US fears Blair has gone soft

Tony Blair today faced a deepening row with America over defence amid charges that he had "gone floppy" over the future of Nato.

The Prime Minister met his counterparts from France, Germany and Belgium at the Euro summit to try to reach agreement on plans for the EU to take independent military action. But the US summoned an emergency Nato meeting to discuss what it sees as the threat of a European army.

The plans created suspicion from the start in Washington and this grew after Mr Blair, initially hostile, last month lined up with France, Germany and Belgium, the instigators of the scheme.

Today British officials said the plans presented no threat to Nato, while proposals for a EU military HQ had been dropped.

But they accepted Mr Blair had agreed the EU should be able to "plan and conduct operations without recourse to Nato capabilities".

A Nato official said: "The Americans are worried Blair has gone a bit floppy."