The prime minister has admitted that the US-led coalition "may never find" any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Tony Blair told senior MPs yesterday that he recognised that no stockpiles had been found.

Blair said he now had to "accept we haven't found them and we may never find them".

But he cautioned that Saddam Hussein could have had the weapons "removed, hidden or destroyed".

The prime minister also appeared to raise doubts about whether the government was willing to accept the repatriation of the four Britons still held at Guantanamo Bay.

He said there was not yet adequate "infrastructure and machinery" in place to protect national security if they are released.