When ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared before the panel, there was a TV frenzy and many people watched the proceedings live on the web. In February, the former Secretary for International Development, Clare Short, who resigned over the war, brought applause from the public gallery when she gave evidence confirming the beliefs of many, that the country and the Commons were misled over the legality of the war by Tony Blair and Lord Goldsmith (then Attorney General). She said that when she wanted to raise questions in cabinet she was ‘jeered at to be quiet’. There is a widespread feeling that if the public had known the truth we would never have gone to war — and perhaps that is right.