Blair: Europe must end hostility to US

Tony Blair has warned the European Union that the continent will become a "superpower" only if it reforms itself and ends its hostility to the United States.

The call comes amid a rift with Britain's EU partners France and Germany over plans to attack Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein.

In an interview with Prospect magazine, exclusive extracts from which appear in The Independent today, Mr Blair says: "My challenge to Europe is this: if we want to have greater sway and greater power, then instead of complaining about America, we've got to face up to what we need to do ... Some of the criticism of America comes from an irritation with their huge superpower status. If we pool our sovereignty in a way that gives us a strong voice and, if we improve our defence capability, we will be the strategic partner that America needs and wants."

Mr Blair says: "If the time comes for action, people will have the evidence presented to them. [Saddam Hussein] is trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction, in particular a nuclear capability."

His intervention came as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt Rev Rowan Williams, used his first public appearance after being appointed by Downing Street yesterday to warn against an attack on Iraq, saying he would only support military action cleared by the United Nations.

Mr Blair says he is "redistributing" wealth to the poor, a word he rarely uses in public. But that will not happen without a strong economy. "You won't get public services turned around unless they are based on consumers."