- Tony Blair's 2000 address to 10,000 members of the Women's Institute (WI) at Wembley Arena descended into chaos, with the prime minister being heckled and slow-handclapped.
- WI members were furious that Blair used their conference as a platform for what they considered a "party political broadcast," leading to the speech being cut short.
- Newly released government files confirm that Blair disregarded advice from officials to avoid "capital P politics" in his speech.
- Key advisers, including Peter Hyman, David Miliband and Alastair Campbell, pushed for a more politically robust speech, criticising initial drafts as too "discursive and whimsical" or "Majoresque."
- The public reaction to the speech was widely seen as evidence that New Labour had lost touch with the Middle England voters it had successfully courted.
IN FULL
New files reveal Tony Blair ignored warnings over infamous WI speech
