Blair refuses to be drawn on military action

Tony Blair angered Labour MPs yesterday by refusing to rule out military action by the United States and Britain alone against Iraq. At the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), the Prime Minister was pressed to promise Britain would not endorse action unless it was specifically authorised by a new United Nations resolution.

Mr Blair tried to reassure backbenchers by saying he wanted to see a "multilateral solution" through the return to Iraq of UN weapons inspectors, but declined to guarantee that he would not back American action.

The Prime Minister did not mention Iraq in his speech to the PLP, devoting it to public services. But continuing concern among his MPs was shown when seven of the 21 backbenchers who questioned him raised the Iraq issue.

In the Commons, Mr Blair answered a question from Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, with: "I'm not going to speculate on the basis on which we will or will not support military action in Iraq. The United Nations has got to be the way of dealing with this issue."