Blair defiant over Iraq

Tony Blair finally apologised for misleading Parliament on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction today - but refused to say sorry for the war itself.

The Prime Minister gave in to mounting demands from all sides by going closer than ever before to saying sorry for the infamous dossier on Saddam's weapons. But his words in the Commons fell short of admitting that he was in any way to blame for the errors.

"I said at the time of the Butler report that I took full responsibility and indeed apologise for any information given in good faith that has subsequently turned out to be wrong," he said.

Critics immediately pointed out that Mr Blair did not in fact use the terms "apology" or "sorry" when Lord Butler delivered his inquiry verdict in July. Tory leader Michael Howard demanded that Mr Blair go further and admit he had personally exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam.

"The Prime Minister did not accurately report the intelligence he received," said Mr Howard in a stormy Commons confrontation this afternoon.

Mr Blair's defiant stance came only hours after one of his closest Cabinet allies, Lord Falconer, said "sorry" three times in a radio interview. Amid mounting pressure from Opposition parties to make a formal Commons statement of apology, Downing Street said Mr Blair had already made his position clear in his speech to the Labour conference a fortnight ago. Critics immediately pointed out that his words to the Brighton gathering fell short of the sort of unambiguous apology demanded by MPs.

No10's strategy appeared to be for other ministers to say sorry on his behalf in the hope that the Prime Minister would be protected from enduring the humiliation of taking any blame.

On BBC Radio 4, Lord Falconer said: "He (Mr Blair) has made it absolutely clear that he is sorry about the sorts of issue - the information issue, the 45-minute issue - he is very sorry about that. That's absolutely clear, that is what the position is. We know the intelligence on which it was based is flawed and we are sorry about that."

But Mr Blair's off icial spokesman refused to use the same words or even to say whether Lord Falconer had accurately reflected the Prime Minister's view.

Last week, Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt also said Mr Blair was "very sorry" after she was heckled by the audience on BBC's Question Time show. She initially claimed he had already apologised - but members of the audience shouted "No!" in reply.

Mr Blair has only made one clear unambiguous apology during his term in power, over the sexual abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Over previous fiascos, including the Dome, he has used phrases such as "it happened on my watch" and "regret" which were spun as apologies by aides but which usually implied others were to blame.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said Mr Blair should make a formal statement in the Commons to say sorry for the Government's claims that Saddam had WMD.

" When the Government invests such credibility on this, it is surely incumbent on the Prime Minister to come to the House to make a special statement on the matter," he said.