WEB EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Chilcot Inquiry

Alastair Campbell emerged from that kind of shining silver limo more accustomed to transporting the likes of Jordan and Paris Hilton than former directors of communications. He got their entourage too: a vicious ‘pap’ scrum so tight that The Chilcot Inqury’s latest star witness required the assistance of four burly coppers to get to the doors of the QEII Conference Centre, temporarily affecting the exaggerated swagger of a TV detective as he did so.
 
Seven years after the UK first deployed troops in Iraq and more than a year, indeed, since we withdrew, Mr. Campbell is still answering questions about the preparations for war. They are the same questions he has answered before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and the Hutton Inquiry and Lord Butler; about sexing-up dossiers and the decision to go to war.
 
On Tuesday, the latest run of a bloody pantomime played just south of the West End and entry was free so I decided to go along and sit in the cheap seats to watch four hours of classic Campbell villany.