Commons recall will be announced today

Parliament will be recalled later this month for an emergency one-day debate on plans for military action against Iraq, it will be announced today.

Michael Martin, the Commons' Speaker, said he had agreed "in principle" to a request from Tony Blair to summon MPs back from their three-month summer break. An announcement of the day of the recall, Tuesday, 24 September, is expected today after Mr Blair discusses the issue with Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory leader, and Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader.

But the decision failed to satisfy some Labour MPs because the Commons will debate a technical motion that will make no mention of Iraq, and so a formal vote on the Government's policy will not be allowed. The Prime Minister rejected a call by Robin Cook, the Leader of the Commons, for a debate on a substantive motion, which would have allowed rebel MPs to vote against the Government. Some 160 Labour backbenchers expressed their deep unease at the prospect of war in Iraq.

Mr Blair will summon the Cabinet for its first meeting since July on the eve of the debate. The meeting will discuss policy on Iraq in depth, allowing potential rebels such as Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, and Mr Cook to express any doubts about military action.

The Prime Minister will try to win round the Cabinet doves in an attempt to head off any resignations. But he will expect them to sign up to the policy endorsed by the Cabinet.

The Government's long-awaited dossier on Iraq's attempts to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons is expected to be published on the morning of the Commons debate, allowing MPs time to read it before their discussion.

Mr Blair will make a statement outlining his strategy before Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, opens the debate. The Lords will also sit for a day. Although the sitting will clash with the Liberal Democrats' conference in Brighton, it will not overshadow Mr Kennedy's speech on 26 September.

In a letter to the Speaker, Mr Blair said: "I understand why members are calling for an earlier recall, and earlier publication of the dossier ... A rigorous process is being gone through to ensure the document is as detailed ... as possible, without compromising sensitive intelligence material."

Mr Blair said the Government was not at the stage of making military commitments, and Parliament would be have the chance to express its view, "should we be so in the future".

Alice Mahon, MP for Halifax, welcomed the recall of Parliament but said there should be a formal vote. "It's been awful, this two-man show going round the world, and it's time Parliament debated this," she said.

The Labour MP Graham Allen, who has scrapped plans for an unofficial Commons sitting at Church House, was "delighted that the proper Parliament will now meet".