Howard urges Blair to quit over WMD

Tory party leader Michael Howard has accused the Prime Minister of a "serious dereliction of duty" over Iraq's weaponry.

He repeated his call for Mr Blair to reconsider his position as Prime Minister in this "most grave state of affairs".

Mr Howard said: "It became clear yesterday (Wednesday) that the Prime Minister took us to war without bothering to ask a simple and obvious question. That question is whether the chemical and biological weapons he thought Iraq had could be used only on the battlefield, or put on the end of a missile to be fired at British troops in Cyprus."

Mr Blair has admitted he was unaware the claim that Iraq could deploy weapons within 45 minutes, made in the Government dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, referred only to battlefield weapons when he asked MPs to vote for war on March 18.

Meanwhile, Mr Hoon told the Commons Defence Select Committee he did know what the claim referred to, but said it wasn't significant at the time. He said there was a difference between his and the Prime Minister's knowledge of the issue, despite the fact that "we both had access to the same intelligence".

Mr Howard went on: "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 that 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 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."

Most watched News videos