Blair distances himself from Bush over Iraq

Tony Blair distanced himself from George Bush over Iraq and the Israeli conflict last night as he insisted that he was not the "poodle" of the American President.

The Prime Minister said he wanted to do everything possible to "get rid of Saddam Hussein" but suggested the threatened military action against Iraq might be shelved if Saddam allowed weapons monitors back into the country. He hinted that UN authorisation might be needed for a military strike against Iraq and refused to endorse President Bush's remarks that Iraq, Iran and North Korea were part of an "axis of evil". Mr Blair said: "I choose my own phrases. I choose my own way."

His remarks, in the second of three interviews with Jeremy Paxman on BBC2's Newsnight, were designed to allay fears in the Labour Party that he had given the US a "blank cheque" over Iraq.

While insisting there were no "really significant differences" with Washington, Mr Blair also declined to endorse Mr Bush's description of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as "a man of peace". He criticised Yasser Arafat, saying he had "let down" the Palestinian people by not doing all he could "to bear down on a scourge of terrorism".

Meanwhile, a row erupted over Mr Blair's claim to Mr Paxman that the Budget's £8bn tax rises would not have been needed if the global economy had not slowed down after 11 September. Michael Howard, the Shadow Chancellor, said: "The Government's own figures show that it does not expect 11 September to affect its finances during the period when higher taxes will bite."