Masters of the Bench

Lord Butler had a high profile career in the civil service from 1961 to 1998, serving as Private Secretary to five Prime Ministers.  He was Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service from 1988 to 1998.  He joined HM Treasury in 1961, becoming Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1964–66 and Secretary to the Budget Committee 1965–69.  Along with Thatcher, he was almost killed in the 1984 IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton In February 2004, it was announced that Lord Butler would chair an inquiry into the use of intelligence in the lead up to the 2003 Iraq War.  His report (widely known as the Butler Report or the Butler Review) concluded that some of the intelligence about Iraq's possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction was seriously flawed.