Pressure on PM as Poland 'to pull out'

Pressure on Tony Blair to send more troops to Iraq intensified today as Poland indicated that it intends to follow Spain in withdrawing its forces.

The Prime Minister said there were "no plans" to send reinforcements despite the suicide bombings that killed 68 people in Basra yesterday.

But Mr Blair may have no choice after Polish premier Leszek Miller revealed that he was considering pulling out his country's 2,400 troops.

Poland has the largest armed contingent in Iraq after the US and Britain.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon claims that British forces will be cut to 1,000 by the end of next year, but a British army chief said this week that troops may need to stay for up to 10 years.

The Tories yesterday claimed in a Commons debate on London that the capital was not adequately prepared for terror attack because Labour had adopted a "wait and see" approach to security.