TO the casual observer - even the smart-casual observer - this dodgy dossier row is difficult to get a grip on. Apparently, the BBC accused the Government of sexing things up, although Jack Straw insists ministers prefer making a Horlicks. But this is not an old-fashioned Tory sex scandal, even though the Labour Cabinet is populated with old-fashioned Tories.

It turns out to be about journalism and lying. Which are generally taken to be one and the same thing (although you would never find a falsehood in this newspaper, as I was only telling the Pope at York skateboard park the other day. Yo, your holiness).

However, we speak not of inky, murky newsprint journalism. This is BBC journalism. The whiter than white, purer than pure, distilled essence of truth. The corporation, upholder of the strictest moral standards, has never knowingly told a fib. Its news is straighter than the Archbishop of Canterbury. And if the great dame of broadcasting says that the Government changed an intelligence dossier to make Iraq seem scarier than it was, then we must believe them.

Wait a mo, though - challenging that view is Tony Blair. Yes, trust-me-Tony, the whiter and white, purer than pure Prime Minister, says that the BBC has made it all up. And it should say sorry. The big bully.

So who do we trust? MPs are no help. The foreign affairs committee thinks the Government is right. Except for the non-Labour Party members who think the Government is wrong.

In such circumstances, I find the best thing to do is examine the evidence before our own eyes.

Here goes then. In the beginning Tony Blair said that we had to take the unprecedented step of invading Iraq, an independent state which had committed no act of aggression against us, because it presented a real danger to Britain and our allies. Iraq, he assured us, was able to deploy biological and chemical weapons at 45 minutes' notice.

So what happened? We invade, the Iraqi forces offer pitiful resistance, and America are licking ice creams in Baghdad by lunchtime. In the months since, the allies have been scouring the place and have not come up with a single weapon of mass destruction.

So the threat, as Tony Blair described it, did not exist. The British public were duped. The millions who opposed war, on the grounds that it was wrong for one state to topple another without an international mandate, were vindicated. Then suddenly, just as these facts was beginning to emerge, Mr Blair's chief henchmen, Alastair Campbell, launches a purple-faced tirade against the BBC.

So here is my conclusion, admittedly based on but a single source (me). All journalists, be afraid and beware. The British Government is armed and ready to shoot the messenger at a moment's notice.

u DESPITE the horrific state-sanctioned starvation of the population in Zimbabwe, Mr Blair has no intention of sending in troops to effect regime change there. But then again, he and President Robert Mugabe have something in common. Mugabe, too, says the BBC has a biased agenda against him. Mr Blair should understand that he will be judged by the company he keeps.

u FUNNY how perceptions change. A few years ago Martina Navratilova was condemned for crucifying Wimbledon with her robotic victories year after year. Now she is lauded as the beloved elder stateswoman of the tournament.

Perhaps Serena Williams, condemned for winning the championship with such tedious ease, will enjoy the same rehabilitation in 20 titles' time.

Updated: 10:23 Wednesday, July 09, 2003