Cook hints at resignation over conflict

Tony Blair's problems over Iraq deepened yesterday when Robin Cook, the Leader of the Commons, suggested he would resign from the Cabinet if Britain went to war without a clear United Nations mandate.

Mr Cook spoke out against immediate military action at a cabinet meeting, leaving other ministers with the clear impression he would join Clare Short by quitting in protest at the absence of a new UN resolution. "The assumption is that Robin would go," one cabinet minister said last night. "He was more forcible than he had been previously."

Mr Cook has always been a strong supporter of the UN and wants Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, to be given the extra time he wants. He and Ms Short are also worried that a war without a fresh resolution might lack legal authority.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman conceded that there were divisions in the Cabinet after a 45-minute discussion on Iraq. He said "a number" of ministers raised "perfectly valid points about what everyone accepts is a very complicated issue".

He insisted that the discussion was "serious, determined and very good-natured" and that all ministers wanted to see a further UN resolution. But he said there was only "broad support" for Mr Blair's strategy -- weaker than the "rock-solid" support claimed after previous cabinet debates on Iraq.

Mr Blair promised to call an emergency cabinet meeting if, as expected, the efforts to secure a new UN resolution end in failure. That session would almost certainly be asked to support a war -- the point at which Ms Short and Mr Cook would resign. Several junior ministers are likely to join them.

Ms Short briefed the Cabinet on the planned humanitarian relief effort in Iraq that would follow a war. Fellow ministers agreed her continued presence was extraordinary after her attack on Mr Blair's "reckless" strategy on Sunday.

Last night Ms Short told the BBC she had no regrets. "I said what I said because I was fearful that we were just going to end up in conflict without everything being properly attended to," she said. "I did it because I thought it was necessary to draw attention to these things. Who knows, if the thing comes out right, I will just be happy."

The special cabinet meeting, likely to be held early next week, would be followed by a critical Commons vote. Mr Cook is pressing for the MPs to be allowed to vote before military action starts but Labour whips favour a slight pause, believing this would minimise the Labour rebellion.

In the Commons, Mr Cook said he would allow parliamentary time for any resignation statements by ministers in the timetabling of Commons business for next week.

In the most definitive government statement so far on the issue of legal advice, Mr Cook made clear that Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, had told Mr Blair a war was already covered by international law. Such advice was generally kept confidential but could be made public "in exceptional circumstances", he said, though he predicted that it would not have a "dramatic or sensational impact".

John Reid, the Labour Party chairman, said the backbencher Ann Clwyd was a possible replacement for Ms Short. He said: "I think the Labour benches are full with potential talent. I think Ann Clwyd speaks with a great deal of passion."