Press TV reporter ‘glad Alastair Campbell has depression’

A Press TV reporter and the editor of 5pillars said he was “glad Alastair Campbell has depression” after the former Labour aide opened up about mental illness.

The journalist and ex-spin doctor, 61, featured in a new BBC Two documentary titled Alastair Campbell: Depression And Me, which aired yesterday at 9pm.

Roshan Salih wrote on social media: “I’m glad Alastair Campbell has depression.

“He absolutely deserves it for the role he played in facilitating the Iraq war which led to a million deaths.

“I hope and pray that he’s mentally tormented for the rest of his life. #alistaircampbell.”

Speaking to Jewish News, Salih said he stood by his comments. “I know about mental health. I know about depression.

“I have friends and family who suffer from it. It’s hell. If anyone deserves it, it’s him.

“He should be in a war court.”

Salih attracted media coverage last year when he described Mitzvah Day as a “tactic used by Israel’s supporters to make links with Muslims” after an interfaith event.

Earlier this year, he also objected to a Holocaust exhibition on Albanian Muslims’ efforts to save Jews from the Nazis at a Golders Green mosque.

“No to normalisation. Boycott Israel and Israeli institutions,” he wrote in a tweet at the time.

A spokesperson for Jewish mental health charity Jami said: “Celebrities speaking out encourages the rest of us to do the same, opening up the dialogue on mental health.

“The more we talk, the more we show others there is nothing to be ashamed of, that it’s okay not to be okay and that asking for help is an incredibly brave thing to do.”