Blunkett in terror plan row

David Blunkett was accused by MPs today of blocking Britain's efforts to defend against a September 11-style disaster.

Whitehall squabbling, the MPs say, has "undermined" Britain's chances of responding to an attack on the scale of the US plane hijackings.

They also round on the Ministry of Defence for its complacent attitude over the military's role in homeland security.

A report by the committee says: "We were concerned the Home since 11

Secretary refused to consider any significantly enhanced role for the armed forces in home defence."

And it warns that "Whitehall departmentalism" has " undermined the British response to the implications" of 9/11.

The MPs suggest that British forces may now be too overstretched to deal adequately with a domestic crisis. Ministers have allowed them to become " dangerously undermanned", they say.

They add: "The approach of fighting terrorism at distance has informed all of the MoD's work

September 2001, but ultimatelyassumes that terrorists will agree to fight on our terms and in places of our choosing. As UK ministers and officials regularly warn, they may choose to bring the campaign closer to our region, or indeed to the UK itself."

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon's assumption that troops would not need to be stationed permanently in the UK to prevent a terrorist attack was "not sustainable," they say, and overstretch in the Army must be "tackled urgently".

The Defence White Paper is " distressingly short on detail" on how ministers intend to resolve the problem, and the MoD has rushed ahead with plans for hi-tech military solutions at the expense of traditional soldiering, say the MPs.