Time is running out for Saddam to disarm, Bush warns

President George Bush said yesterday that he was "sick and tired of Iraq's deception" and warned that time was running out for Saddam Hussein to disarm.

In his toughest sounding comments for weeks, Mr Bush said that while he was not fixing a timetable to the work of the UN weapons inspectors it was time for Iraq to prove that it had disarmed itself of weapons of mass destruction.

"So far I haven't seen any evidence that he has disarmed. Time is running out on Saddam Hussein," he said. "He must disarm. I'm sick and tired of games and deception. That's my view of the timetable."

Mr Bush's bullish stance came as the UN secretary general Kofi Annan said inspection teams were only now "getting up to speed" and that they should be given time to complete their work. The inspectors themselves have said they may need a year to complete their search.

In London, Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, provoked more protests from Labour MPs over Iraq by declaring that President Saddam could not go "unpunished". Pledging his support for Tony Blair's hawkish stance, Mr Brown said the US and Britain could take military action that was not authorised by the United Nations. "There may be circumstances where that is necessary, but we still want to go through the United Nations," he said. The Chancellor added: "Nobody wants to go to war – it would only be if absolutely necessary and we must wait for the weapons inspectors. We do not believe Saddam Hussein has told us the truth, we must also wait for the United Nations and what they say about the matter.

"But I think people would agree that if the whole of the international community says disarm and a country and a dictator refuses to do so, you cannot just leave that dictator unpunished."

Labour MPs reacted angrily to the Chancellor's comments. Tam Dalyell, the longest-serving MP, said he was "shocked" by Mr Brown's remarks. "He might just spare a thought for the already traumatised children of Iraq. War 21st century is a very terrible thing to unleash," he said.

Helen Jackson, vice chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, said talk of "punishing" President Saddam suggested the UN inspectors had failed to find proof that he still had weapons of mass destruction and the emphasis was back on regime change.

Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, warned Iraq it needed to take seriously the threat of military action. He said the message he would deliver when he and Mohamed al-Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, travel to Baghdad on Sunday was that its declaration submitted last month did not contain any new evidence to verify its claims of disarmament. Mr Blix said he was concerned that Iraq had been smuggling weapons in contravention of UN resolutions.

Uncertainty over Iraq is thought to have played a part in a drop in Mr Bush's personal approval rating, which a poll published yesterday said had fallen to its lowest level since the terrorist attacks of 11 September.

The CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll suggested that in addition to Iraq, the economy and the growing crisis with North Korea had combined to see his rating drop by five points in a week. It now stands at 58 per cent, compared with just above 90 per cent in the aftermath of the attacks on New York and Washington.