Ex-defence secretary blasts Blair

Tony Blair came under further attack today over his claim that he did not know key facts about Iraqi weapons on the eve of sending British troops into battle.

A former Tory defence secretary joined Labour MPs and Liberal Democrats as pressure mounted on the Prime Minister for a full explanation of what he knew.

The row refused to die down over Mr Blair's startling admission that he was not aware of intelligence material central to the Government's case for war.

The Government's September 2002 dossier detailing the threat posed by Iraqi weapons claimed Saddam had WMD which could be fired in 45 minutes. Crucially, Mr Blair says he did not know this referred only to battlefield weapons, not long-range missiles, even though other members of his Cabinet were well aware of the difference.

Former Tory defence secretary Lord King told Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Blair had claimed it was impossible to brief the British public fully on intelligence matters in the dossier. This made it all the more "extraordinary" that he now claimed he was not aware of the key intelligence material himself, the peer added.

"The Prime Minister made a point in the dossier," said Lord King. "He said as Prime Minister he had made it his duty to be briefed in detail, so that they could set out the facts in that dossier.

"For a decision of this importance... I do find it quite extraordinary."

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said the whole matter had "an air of incredibility" about it.

Former Labour defence minister Doug Henderson, an opponent of the war, said: "If he didn't know about it, then he should have known about it ."

Labour's Donald Anderson, chairman of the all-party foreign affairs select committee, criticised the September dossier for not spelling out which weapons the 45-minute claim referred to. But he said exaggerated significance had been attached to the issue.

He said: "To put this in some perspective, clearly it was mentioned four times in the dossier. But then the whole issue went to sleep.

"It did not figure in the debate in March, and I can't imagine that any of my colleagues who voted two to one in favour of the conflict were influenced by an Evening Standard headline and a Daily Express headline in the September of the previous year."

On the day the dossier was published, the Standard's front-page headline read: "45 minutes from attack." The story highlighted the 45-minute claim as a key fact in the dossier.

The point was also headlined in other newspapers the following day. The Government did nothing to correct what it now claims was a misleading impression - that the 45-minute claim referred to long-range missiles which could attack British interests.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has claimed he did not see headlines at the time of the dossier because he was on a visit to Eastern Europe, although his department monitors the entire media's output on defence issues.

Meanwhile, Mr Blair faced fresh criticism over his inquiry into the run-up to the Iraq war after President George Bush chose one of his toughest critics to head the US's investigation.

Mr Bush was set to appoint Senator John McCain to the job in a bid by the White House to head off claims that the probe will be little more than a whitewash. By contrast Mr Blair has chosen former Cabinet secretary Lord Butler to head his investigation - leading to claims that such a leading establishment figure will not inspire public confidence in the probe.