Kelvin MacKenzie shares expletive-filled email from Alastair Campbell over Brexit 'buyer's remorse' admission

The former Downing Street spin doctor told MacKenzie he should be 'f***ing ashamed' over Brexit vote

Kelvin MacKenzie edited The Sun from 1981 to 1994 (Getty)

Kelvin MacKenzie has included a furious email he received from Alastair Campbell after admitting ‘buyer’s remorse’ for voting to leave the EU in the referendum in his weekly column for The Sun.

The former editor of the newspaper joined a wave of Brexit anxiety dubbed ‘bregret’ when he admitted he was concerned about the prospect of Britain leaving the European Union despite having voted for such as outcome.

“When I put my cross against Leave I felt a surge as though for the first time in my life my vote did count. I had power,” he wrote on Monday.

“Four days later I don’t feel quite the same. I have buyer’s remorse. A sense of be careful what you wish for. To be truthful I am fearful of what lies ahead.”

MacKenzie’s admission he felt some regret over voting to Leave post-referendum prompted an incensed response from Campbell, who told him to “f*** off” in a strongly worded email.

Staunchly pro-EU, Campbell was a prominent campaigner for the Remain camp. In his email, the former Downing Street spin doctor told MacKenzie he should feel "ashamed" for helping to achieve a result that could have such long-lasting and wide-ranging repercussions. The Sun urged its readers to vote to leave the EU in a front page splash ten days before the referendum.

Campbell wrote: "Never mind buyer’s remorse, you should feel totally f***ing ashamed to have been for so long part of a giant propaganda machine which has helped the country make a potentially self-destructive decision that future generations will have to live with when you and I are long gone.

“Murdoch has been a complete poison in our national life and you have helped so much. And because you are well sorted it will not hit you nearly as hard as those you and yours have persuaded to make the decision they did.”

In his column, MacKenzie questioned Campbell’s remark about playing a part of a propaganda machine, branding his own PR machine for Labour “a disgrace”. Campbell resigned as the director of communications and strategy in the wake of the controversial Iraq war.

Campbell has confirmed the email is genuine, writing on Twitter: “I can confirm its accuracy in all parts.” A representative for Campbell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.