Blair under fresh attack over Iraq

Tony Blair today faced a fresh wave of attacks accusing him of deceiving Britain over Saddam Hussein’s weapons arsenal.

Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, the Archbishop of York Dr David Hope and the Bishop of Durham, the Right Rev Tom Wright, today launched attacks on the British Prime Minister over Iraq.

The criticisms follow yesterday’s rejection by the US official running Iraq of Mr Blair’s claim that evidence of Saddam’s hidden weapons laboratories had been unearthed.

Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, said the claim sounded like a “red herring” put about by someone opposed to military action to undermine the coalition.

Mr Bremer was forced to row back when it was pointed out that Washington’s staunchest ally, Mr Blair, had made the claim.

“There is actually a lot of evidence that had been made public,” he told the ITV1 Jonathan Dimbleby programme.

Meanwhile, Britain's former International Development Secretary Clare Short again called forMr Blair to quit, accusing him of “deceit” and and Labour MP Diane Abbott warned he risked backbench rebellions by making loyal MPs feel like “pillocks” over the war.

Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook warned Mr Blair that he may never win back public trust after the war.

Mr Cook, who quit the Cabinet over the war, said the lack of trust had undermined the credibility of the British government.

Writing in today’s Independent, he urged the Prime Minister to make a New Year’s resolution to admit he was wrong about Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction.

“Once lost, trust is difficult to regain and its absence has infected the credibility of the government,” he said.

He said Mr Blair should abandon his “unhealthy” denial of the mounting evidence that Saddam did not have WMD.

“It is undignified for the Prime Minister, and worrying for his nation, to go on believing a threat which everybody else can see was a fantasy,” he said.

Mr Cook also warned that the war had opened up a new front against terrorism.

Al-Qaida was not tolerated in Iraq before the occupation. But now it was behind many of the attacks on coalition troops.

“Far from being a victory in the war on terrorism, the invasion of Iraq has been a spectacular own goal, as our intelligence services accurately warned,” he said.

“We now have a new front against terrorism within Iraq with no evidence of any reduction in terrorism outside Iraq.”

Dr David Hope, the Archbishop of York, also questioned the legitimacy of the war and warned the Prime Minster he would have to answer to God.

Dr Hope, Britain’s second most senior church leader, urged people to pray for the premier and called on him to exercise a “calm, quiet authority”.

On the war Dr Hope said: “It just seemed to me that there was a real lack of listening.

“One of the qualities of a good leader is that they have to be really attentive to the views of the people. It seemed at one stage that was not happening.”

In an interview with The Times he raised questions about the justification for the war.

“We still have not found any weapons of mass destruction anywhere,” he said.

“Are we likely to find any? Does that alter the view as to whether we really ought to have mounted the invasion or not? Undoubtedly a very wicked leader has been removed but there are wicked leaders in other parts of the world.”

Dr Hope told Mr Blair: “There is a higher authority before whom one day we all have to give an account.”

That message reflects Mr Blair’s own insistence that he was “ready to meet my maker” and answer for “those who have died or have been horribly maimed as a result of my decisions”.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has also said Mr Blair would be “called to account” for his decision to take Britain to war.

Another church leader also weighed into the row, saying Mr Blair and Mr Bush behaved like “white vigilantes” when they launched the invasion of Iraq.

The Bishop of Durham, the Right Rev Tom Wright, conceded there was a problem in Iraq. But the Prime Minister and Mr Bush did not have the credibility to take action.

In an interview with The Independent Dr Wright said: “For Bush and Blair to go into Iraq together was like a bunch of white vigilantes going into Brixton to stop drug-dealing.

“This is not to deny there’s a problem to be sorted, just that they are not credible people to deal with it.”

Dr Wright called for a greater UN role in settling international disputes.

Downing Street stood by Mr Blair’s comments on weapons labs. A spokeswoman insisted the Prime Minister’s information came straight from the group hunting for Saddam’s arsenal.