How Iraq war destroyed UK’s trust in politicians and left Labour in turmoil

Tony Blair (left) and George W Bush walk to a joint press conference at the White House on 17 July 2003, where they face questions about intelligence information. Photograph: Evan Vucci/EPA

On 28 April 2003, just weeks after the fall of Baghdad, Sir John Scarlett, the chair of the joint intelligence committee, went into the office of Tony Blair’s press secretary, Alastair Campbell. “How difficult would it be if it transpired we do not find evidence of Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction programme?” he asked.

With post-Saddam Iraq already tipping towards civil war, and the casus belli apparently evaporating, Campbell replied: “Very, very, very difficult.”