Majority of MPs back plan for 'informal' recall of Parliament

Lord Weatherill, a former Speaker of the House of Commons, has agreed to chair an unofficial recall of Parliament if the Government continues to refuse requests for MPs to return to debate Iraq.

MPs of all parties have given "overwhelming" support to a plan for an informal recall, reflecting their anger at the lack of consultation on the prospect of military action. It would be the first time since the 1640s that Parliament had met without the permission of the executive.

Graham Allen, the Labour MP behind the plan, found a staggering majority of MPs wanted an official recall, while almost as many were prepared to go it alone without the Prime Minister's permission.

"It really is a poor second, and the official recall is preferable," Mr Allen said. "But an overwhelming majority are in favour of meeting unofficially."

The threat of an informal recall comes on top of deepening splits in the Cabinet. John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Clare Short, the Secretary of State for International Development, are the latest prominent figures to express concerns about the direction being taken by the Prime Minister. Ms Short has privately made clear her hostility to "those warmongers in the White House".

Misgivings about military action are reflected in the US. President Bush has been warned by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, to forget about bombing Iraq and to concentrate on finding Osama bin Laden. "Saddam Hussein didn't kill 3,100 people on 11 September, Osama bin Laden did, and as far as we know, he's still alive," Mr Clinton said.

There is scepticism within the Bush administration itself. In an interview on the BBC's Breakfast With Frost today, Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, says no decisions have been taken and underlines the importance of securing United Nations agreement.

"The United States has enormous military power and we have the capacity to do just about anything we set our minds to," he says. "But ... the President has not decided to undertake military action.

"The President is examining all his options and when he has completed that examination it will be as a result of consultation with friends, consultation within his administration. He will take the case to the public and the international community."

Mr Powell, a Bush administration "dove", says that though Iraq may not have nuclear weapons for up to nine years, it is "committed to trying to have a nuclear weapon".

"There is an imperative not to allow this regime, this regime that we characterise as evil and have every reason to characterise as such, there is an imperative not to allow this regime to continue to stick its finger in the eye of the international community, to stick its finger in the eye of the civilised world," he said.

But Mr Powell admitted there were differences in the Bush team about the best way of dealing with Iraq. "The President always encourages us to debate. I think one of the strengths of the President's national security team is that we all have known each other for many, many years in very different capacities... We all know each other well and we can have full, open debate without pulling our punches."

In an interview with Jonathan Dimbleby today, Henry Kissinger, a former US Secretary of State, says unilateral action should be absolutely the last resort.

"We need to have a very detailed discussion with our European allies," he says. "We have shared our concept of security for 50 years, and maybe under new conditions that will no longer be as valid as it was before, but it should not be America that abandons the process of consultation."

Mr Kissinger said he would be "very uneasy" if the President did not heed Europe's advice, and, although he would support military action, "I would think that the President has not acted rightly".