Tony Blair: Under pressure

A new terrorist atrocity in Iraq and a fresh wave of criticism from senior Conservatives has left the government under increased pressure.

Ministers have already been facing criticism from their own backbenchers following the decision to redeploy Black Watch troops to central Iraq.

And concerns about the security situation in the country mounted on Sunday with the discovery of the bodies of 49 Iraqi soldiers.

They were reported to have been killed at close range while lying on the floor, apparently the victims of an ambush by insurgents.

Redeployment

Both prime minister Tony Blair and defence secretary Geoff Hoon have said the Black Watch move is a military decision designed to boost security ahead of elections planned for January.

But speaking to the BBC on Sunday, John Major expressed doubts about both the elections and the reasons for the deployment.

The former Conservative prime minister said the redeployment was made as a result of a political objective to restore security.

He added that a "huge amount of work" would be required to ensure elections can be held as planned

"We are not near the beginning of the end yet," he told the Breakfast With Frost programme.

"If we are to do the job properly and not scuttle - and I think we must do it properly and not scuttle - British troops will be there for many, many years yet."

Grandees speak out

Further criticism of the government's policy on Iraq came from a range of senior Tories.

Speaking to ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme, Lord Heseltine, Lord Hurd and Kenneth Clarke all spoke out against the way the war had been handled.

All three men had been opponents of the war, and their criticisms went further than the official Conservative policy.

Lord Heseltine, a former deputy prime minister, said Tony Blair had "lied about the situation in the Middle East".

"We were told that there was a threat. We were told there were weapons of mass destruction. There were no weapons of mass destruction; there was no threat," he said.

And Lord Hurd, who was foreign secretary under Major, said the prime minister had not lied but had "deceived himself first".

"He persuaded himself that it was not necessary to ask all the awkward questions about the power, it was simply necessary to take up and echo and repeat the arguments that President Bush was making," he said.

"Well, he was wrong. I'm not in favour of wittering on about him making an apology.

"Does that mean if he said sorry we would trust him with these matters again? No, certainly not in my case. He was wrong."

Meanwhile, Clarke said the redeployment was not a military decision.

"I think the idea that this is just a routine military step is absurd," said the former chancellor.

"It was presented to the House of Commons in a really pathetic fashion, because for some time Geoff Hoon tried to pretend that they hadn't already decided, when they had."