Journalists must learn from the mistakes made in the build-up to the current war in Iraq as they cover the present situation with Iran.

This was the message to come out of the Media Workers Against the War conference at the London School of Economics on Saturday.

Around two thirds of the 350 people attending worked in the media, according to a show of hands, and those voicing the warning for journalists included Tony Benn, former New Statesman editor now Guardian columnist Peter Wilby, the Guardian’s Nick Davies, veteran investigative journalist Philip Knightley and the Evening Standard’s Andrew Gilligan.