The Prime Minister provoked a backlash led by Sir Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the Government's Sustainable Development Commission, who said Mr Blair's leadership on the issue in Britain had been patchy and muddle-headed.

I would not hear your enemy say so, Nor shall you do mine ear that violence To make it truster of your own report Against yourself.

Having put partisan interests to one side, Greenwood set about making teamwork a watchword for her chairmanship, while seeking the broadest possible participation in subsequent inquiries.

The unintended ambiguity of the phrase was a double-edged sword: it spurred litigation but it also ended up shielding good-faith actors.