We were saying: ‘Be prepared to spend a great deal of time and money

We were saying: ‘Be prepared to spend a great deal of time and money. This could take a generation.’”Although the outside participants were reluctant to quote the words of the Government side – Downing Street said: “It’s not our policy to comment on private meetings” – what struck several of the experts was the lack of response “There was no real argument,” said one. “You sensed they were heading into a war they couldn’t avoid. Although we were sitting at the cabinet table, the decisions were being taken on the other side of the Atlantic.”According to Dr Dodge, who was first to speak at the meeting, the Prime Minister said little, leaving most of the questions to Mr Straw. For him, it seemed to be highly personal: an evil Saddam versus Blair-Bush. He didn’t seem to have a perception of Iraq as a complex country.” He recalled that the Prime Minister had interjected only occasionally and cryptically.

I think he’d made up his mind already.”Another said: “I was staggered at Blair’s apparent naivety, at his inability to engage with the complexities. “He was dismissive of our arguments,” said one, speaking on condition of anonymity “It seemed as if he was just going through the motions. There was “a lot of glum silence and note-taking on the other side of the table”. Professor Clarke’s recollection was that Mr Blair and his officials were attentive, and “did not dissent” from the experts’ opinions.But others felt the Prime Minister was not really listening. “You’re safer shopping online than on the high street,” he says. “It’s now written in European law that you can return goods bought online within seven days, which you can’t always do on the high street.

If someone uses your credit card to buy goods online, you are guaranteed to get your money back.”However, that does not apply to auction sites such as eBay, which are not retailers but agents that connect buyers and sellers online. And as online sales increase generally, so do fraud losses, borne by banks and retailers. According to the Association for Payment and Clearing Services, fraud losses accumulated from people buying goods either online or over the phone on UK-issued cards rose to £116.4m in 2003, up from £2.5m in 1994.The Pontypool teenager who racked up £45,000 by selling non-existent goods was able to do so by persuading buyers to pay for them through money transfers. He succeeded because eBay allows buyers and sellers to contact each other directly.