Boost for bid to give Commons war veto

Radical moves to give MPs the final say over whether Britain goes to war received a huge boost today.

Former Cabinet minister Clare Short revealed she would bring forward a Bill to ensure that a Prime Minister could not deploy troops in future without the approval of Parliament.

Ms Short, who came third in a ballot of MPs with Private Member's Bills, pointed out that 200 had already backed the idea of enshrining a Commons veto in law.

MPs were granted a vote on the Iraq war on the eve of the US-led invasion in 2003 but under current constitutional arrangements Tony Blair could have gone ahead anyway.

Chancellor Gordon Brown is a strong supporter of the idea of giving Parliament an automatic right to vote on war and the Bill may give his own campaign a fillip.