Blair to meet French for Iraq talks

Tony Blair will today interrupt his holiday for talks with French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin as public concern grows over possible military action against Iraq.

The two leaders will meet close to the villa in Le Vernet, near Toulouse, where Mr Blair is taking a two-week holiday with his wife Cherie and three of their children.

The threat of an American military strike against Saddam Hussein's regime is expected to top the agenda for the informal talks. France has warned that no attack should go ahead without a United Nations mandate.

Mr Blair's position as America's strongest European ally is angering British voters who do not believe an attack is justified, an opinion poll found today.

The YouGov internet survey, for the Daily Telegraph, found that only 28 per cent of people think that "the US, under present circumstances, would be justified in taking military action against Iraq".

A majority, 58 per cent, said no, while 14 per cent were undecided. More that half of those surveyed thought Mr Blair "looks increasingly like President Bush's poodle" while only 19 per cent said Britain should join in any US-led military campaign against Iraq.

The results back up the findings of private opinion polls commissioned by Downing Street. They will be seized on by Labour MPs and trade union chiefs opposed to any British involvement in a US-led attack.

Mr Blair's close political ally, Peter Mandelson, warned against pledging British support for a military strike until public opinion had shifted. In an interview with The Times, the former Cabinet minister said the Government would not commit British troops "unless and until it is clear that that is the best option available, and political and public opinion has been prepared to support it".

He accused Washington of sending "mixed messages" and said: "They therefore cannot be surprised that Europe and the world is reacting in a confused way."

Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein moved to win over waverers in the West yesterday with an apparent promise to allow United Nations weapons inspectors back into his country.