Blair: It is our duty to support US over Iraq

Tony Blair began preparing the British people for war with Iraq yesterday when he announced plans to publish a dossier outlining the "real and unique threat" posed by Saddam Hussein to world peace.

In his most hawkish comments yet on the need for military action against Baghdad, the Prime Minister said "the whole international community" had a duty to stand behind the United States in its determination to act over the chemical, biological and nuclear weapons being developed by Iraq.

At a 90-minute press conference in his Sedgefield constituency, Mr Blair came close to endorsing President George Bush's demands for "regime change" in Baghdad. He declared: "Either the regime starts to function in a completely different way ­ and there's not much sign of that ­ or the regime has to change."

He insisted that some of the criticism of President Bush was "just a parody of the George Bush that I know and work with".

He said pointedly that the 11 September atrocities could have happened in "London or Berlin or Paris" ­ a clear reference to scepticism in France and Germany on the need for war. "If Britain and if Europe want to be taken seriously as people facing up to these issues, then our place is facing them in partnership with America."

He said: "The Americans in raising this issue are not wrong, they are right, and the reason why our place is beside them in addressing this issue is not because of some misplaced allegiance or because of blind loyalty, it's because it's the right thing to do."

The Prime Minister tacitly acknowledged that the Government was losing the battle for public support on the issue, with opinion polls showing increasing opposition to war.

He said he had originally intended to publish a dossier of evidence against President Saddam only after a decision to take military action had been made, but would now bring it forward to "the next few weeks". He believed Baghdad was "coming to the point" of nuclear weapons capability and that it was close to acquiring long-range ballistic missile technology.

Mr Blair said he hated war but would have to live with his conscience if he failed to stop President Saddam using a nuclear or other weapon of mass destruction against his neighbours. He said he would prefer United Nations involvement, but the UN had to be "a way of dealing with it, not a way of avoiding dealing with it". If the UN could not agree, action should go ahead anyway because of the danger posed, he suggested.

Mr Blair appeared to shift from the Government's previous emphasis on getting UN weapons inspectors back into the country, refusing to commit Britain to the idea floated last week by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, that President Saddam should be given a deadline on their readmission. Instead, he echoed the scepticism of Dick Cheney, the US Vice-President, over whether the inspectors would be allowed access "anytime, anywhere".

Mr Blair refused to comment on claims that he would soon meet President Bush for a "war council", but speculation increased last night that he might attend a meeting of the UN General Assembly next week. Meanwhile, in Washington, the administration began a series of private briefings for members of Congress in order to win support.

The Prime Minister used his first press conference since his summer holiday to launch what amounted to a campaign to turn round public and Labour Party opinion. He accepted there was a "host of perfectly reasonable questions" that critics had a right to raise, including how the regime could be changed, the role of the UN and the fate of the Middle East peace process.