Tories call on Blair to resign over 45-minute claim

The Tories have called for the Prime Minister to resign after he said that he was not aware of precisely what was implied by the claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy WMD within 45 minutes.

In a debate on the Hutton Report, Tony Blair said that he was unaware whether the claim, which was contained in his foreword to the September 2002 dossier, referred to battlefield ordnance or long-range missiles loaded with WMD.

And during Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon's grilling by MPs in the Commons today, Tory leader Michael Howard rounded on the government, suggesting that by neglecting to ask "a simple and obvious question", Mr Blair had neglected his duty to the British people – and so should consider his position.

Mr Howard said: “I cannot imagine a more serious dereliction of duty by a Prime Minister than failing to ask that basic question. I have served in a Cabinet which took our country to war. There is no higher responsibility on the shoulders of any politician.

“It was the Prime Minister’s duty to know every fact before he asked the British public for their support. And it was also the duty of every Cabinet Minister to ask for those facts too – just as Robin Cook clearly did. This is a most grave state of affairs. If I were Prime Minister, and had failed to ask this basic question, I would seriously be considering my position."

Mr Blair's assertion directly contradicts the recollection of the former Leader of the House Robin Cooke. In his memoir 'The Point of Departure', which chronicles the government's build up to war, Mr Cooke stated that Tony Blair understood that WMD could only be deployed on the battlefield.

The Liberal Democrats leader Charles Kennedy did not go as far as a resignation call but said that Mr Blair's "almost incredible" statement reinforced the argument for a broad inquiry into the "political judgments" leading up to war.

He said: "As he made the decision to commit British troops to war, it is hard to believe that the Prime Minister didn’t ask the vital questions about the nature of the threat and the weapons that they would be facing. If he did not, then his judgement must be called into question."

Mr Kennedy added: "It is a pity that Michael Howard is again distracting from the serious questions with his calls for Tony Blair to resign. Instead, he should be joining us in asking for a proper, independent, inquiry into the political judgements which led us to war in Iraq."

(gmcg)