The Independent front page carries a piece by former foreign secretary Robin Cook appealing to Tony Blair to tell US president Bush that he has got his policy on Iraq wrong.

His comments come as the prime minister flies to Washington for a meeting with George W Bush to discuss the recent escalation in violence.

"The most important job for Tony Blair today is to convince the Bush administration that it is not engaged in a military operation to beat a discrete enemy but in a political exercise to win the hearts and minds of a whole people," he stresses.

Meanwhile, opposition MPs have accused the prime minister of keeping them in the dark about the situation in Iraq, after it was confirmed that there would be no Commons statement when parliament returns next week.

Conservative leader Michael Howard said Downing Street's decision was an "unacceptable" dereliction of duty.