Sir Menzies Campbell

The Liberal Democrats have attacked the prime minister following his latest comments on the justification for going to war with Iraq.

Tony Blair told Channel Five that he would still have gone to war even if he knew that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction.

"I would still have authorised the invasion because I believed Saddam was in breach of UN resolutions and the evidence does show that," he insisted.

Blair said he held to that view even though Iraq had no "readily deployable weapons at the time the invasion took place".

Following the statement, the Lib Dems said the comments were an admission that the war was illegal.

"The prime minister's frankness is in truth an admission of illegality. He can hardly be surprised if public opinion is so sceptical of his credibility," said foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell.

"What we all remember is his passionate assertion that there was a 'serious and current threat' and a 'real and present danger'.

"It now seems that the prime minister was willing to go to war even if there was no risk to Britain or its interests."