Eighty more Labour MPs ready to rebel, Blair is warned

Tony Blair was warned yesterday the 53 Labour MPs who rebelled over Iraq on Tuesday were only "the tip of the iceberg" and he faces a much bigger revolt when the Commons debates the issue again.

As the Government dismissed this week's protest vote as "pointless posturing", it emerged Mr Blair narrowly avoided a much more damaging rebellion. It is believed that another 80 Labour MPs were ready to abstain if the Government had mobilised its "payroll vote" in Tuesday's division to crush the anti-war rebels.

In the run-up to the vote, Labour whips made urgent inquiries to see whether wavering MPs would support the Government if it opposed the rebels in the vote. The threat of widespread abstentions forced the whips to call off the move to defeat the rebels.

Instead, they were allowed to win the vote, which took place on a technical motion, by 64 votes to six. Malcolm Savidge, MP for Aberdeen North and one of the 53 Labour MPs who rebelled, said yesterday: "The people who voted against were the tip of the iceberg. Many more would so, particularly if the there is the prospect of unilateral action."

Mr Blair's campaign to swing public opinion behind action against President Saddam suffered a setback last night. A poll by Mori for ITV News found that while 54 per cent of people say the Government's dossier on Iraq's weapons has convinced them that Iraq poses a threat to international peace, 48 per cent still disagree with the need for military action.

The Government's dossier appeared to have had little impact on their opinions, with 68 per cent saying that their views on the Iraq situation have not changed in the past week, and 34 per cent saying that the document has had no influence either way.

The Commons protest has encouraged grassroots Labour activists to seek backing for a motion expressing doubts about military action at the party's annual conference, which starts on Sunday.

Labour's ruling national executive committee, on which Blairites have a majority, will draw up a statement on Iraq in line with the Government's policy. But the conference will also vote on rival motions from constituency parties. Some oppose a war outright, others insist that any military action must be authorised by the United Nations.

Yesterday, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, acknowledged that some Labour MPs had reservations but insisted: "There are 650 MPs. Fifty voted on that technical motion, 600 did not,including 350 Labour MPs. That puts the whole matter into perspective."

Mr Straw suggested the Government would allow a full-scale Commons vote – but only after British troops had been deployed. He said: "We in Government have no difficulty at all about the idea of a substantive motion at the appropriate time, with one proviso about the exact timing.

"We cannot undertake to put down a motion immediately before or shortly before military action if the effect would be to give the enemy advance notice of our military activity."

However, he said a vote significantly in advance of military action would be "fine".

George Galloway, another of the rebels, added a forthright opinion. He said: "The wrath of the Arab masses will come pouring off the streets of their capitals like molten lava and who knows who will be scorched?" He added: "Bin Ladenism will have achieved a huge draught of support and a new generation of rabid mosquitoes will fly forth from the swamp of Muslim bitterness and despair."