MP warns Blair could be forced to quit over weapons in Iraq claim
dailyrecord.co.uk
[Crisis meeting also mentioned by the telegraph etc, you have to register to get the story though.. pb]
Ian Smith
TONY Blair will be forced to resign unless weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq, a Scots MP claimed last night.
Labour's Brian Donohoe, usually a Blair loyalist, broke ranks to warn the PM he could be ousted over the fallout from the Iraq war.
Donohoe's remarks came as fresh doubts were raised over whether WMD would ever be found in Iraq.
Blair took the country to war claiming Saddam Hussein had chemical, biological and possibly even nuclear weapons.
Donohoe, MP for Cunninghame South, said yesterday that if no weapons were found: "I do believe the position of the Prime Minister in these circumstances is untenable and that he would have to resign."
Donohoe is furious that he was persuaded, against his original instincts, to back the war in a Commons vote because of Blair's claim that Saddam had WMD which posed a massive threat.
He said: "The only thing that convinced me, and convinced many others, was the fact that we were going to war because of the immediate threat of Saddam by utilising weapons of mass destruction."
He said that if no WMD were found then there was "no legitimate reason for us to go to war".
Earlier this week, Blair subtly changed his position on WMD, saying he was sure "evidence" of weapons would be found, rather than his previous assertion that the weapons themselves would be uncovered.
Donohoe said this wouldn't be enough and that only a substantial find of WMD would be enough to save Blair.
Downing Street yesterday reacted to increasing speculation that ministers had given up hope of finding WMD, by insisting Blair was still confident "concrete evidence" would be uncovered.
Blair's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister believes and is absolutely confident that we will find material that, had Hans Blix found it, would have justified him going back to the security council and having a further UN resolution issued.
"The Prime Minister is also absolutely confident that we will find evidence not only of WMD programmes, but concrete evidence of the product of those programmes as well."
But former foreign secretary Robin Cook also warned that only the discovery of actual weapons of mass destruction in Iraq would vindicate Blair's decision to go to war.
He said: "They said, quite explicitly, that there were weapons, indeed famously, they said there were weapons that would be ready within 45 minutes.
"They also said that Saddam had rebuilt the factories to make more chemical weapons. To establish that that is correct, you do have to produce the weapons."
The row between Downing Street and the BBC over its reports that pre- war intelligence dossiers were "sexed-up" also took a new twist yesterday.
The foreign affairs committee announced it was reopening its investigation into the use of intelligence so it could call a Ministry of Defence WMD expert, David Kelly, who has been accused of being the BBC source.
The BBC has denied he is the source, claiming it was a senior member of the intelligence services |
