Estelle Morris reveals war rift in Cabinet

One of Tony Blair's closest ministerial allies today revealed that the Cabinet was unhappy about the move towards war with Iraq.

Estelle Morris said she raised in Cabinet her unease that Britain seemed simply to be following US President George Bush. She said: "The question I asked at the time... was that one of the things that people would be asking is 'what is different now? Why didn't we take this action a year ago or five years ago?'

"That was the question I sought to raise at the Cabinet meeting. That was part of the general discussion."

Her disclosure contradicts repeated assurances that the Cabinet was united in the run-up to the war. Ms Morris's intervention was in summer 2002 when Mr Blair was edging towards endorsing military action in public. She resigned as Education Secretary that autumn but rejoined the Government as Arts Minister after the war.

Meanwhile, Mr Bush piled fresh pressure on Mr Blair by conceding for the first time that intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was faulty. In a US TV interview, he said Saddam had been a "direct threat" to America, but added there was no such thing as "iron-clad, absolutely solid intelligence".

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said voters were bored by stories on whether WMD could have been ready within 45 minutes.