Foot mounts personal attack on PM's 'lies' over conflict in Iraq

The former Labour leader Michael Foot launched an extraordinary personal attack on Tony Blair last night, accusing him of telling lies over the war in Iraq.

Mr Foot, who was given a Downing Street reception by Mr Blair for his 90th birthday this summer, said at the Tribune rally that the chaos in Iraq increased the risk of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. He urged Mr Blair to make it the mission of a third Labour term to promote global disarmament.

"If we have a full-scale international action to stop all the weapons of mass destruction, then we won't have to hear any more lies from our leaders on this," he said.

Last night the Labour leadership refused to accept a motion criticising the war. The unions expressed anger and pledged to challenge a decision not to allow a vote on an emergency motion tabled by the RMT rail union, which said the war had no justification and British troops should be withdrawn. Union activists viewed this as an attempt to prevent the Prime Minister being humiliated.

The leadership's decision left delegates with only an uncontroversial policy paper about Iraq to vote on today. The policy paper does not criticise the Government but it could form an opening for critical speeches from the floor. "A vote on this paper would be meaningless," said one senior union official last night.

This morning the RMT is expected to mount a public challenge to the decision to quash a vote on its critical motion. It plans to refer the decision back to the conference arrangements committee, which recommends what should and should not be debated. A Labour spokesman said he could not comment on the decision ahead of a formal announcement to the conference this morning.

On Sunday night Labour managers were delighted when the constituencies did not put their weight behind an Iraq vote. Yesterday they were trying hard to avert a humiliating defeat for Mr Blair after unions clubbed together to try to force a vote.

The compromise to allow delegates to vote on a policy paper was designed to fend off accusations that the party was trying to quash debate on Iraq at the conference. The conference arrangements committee is believed to have decided the motion was out of order because it did not qualify as an emergency motion, which must refer to something that has occurred after 17 September.

The RMT union had hoped its motion would qualify because it referred to a recent poll showing that most people in Britain thought the war was unjustified and reports that the Iraq Survey Group has found no weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Blair also came under strong attack at the Tribune rally from Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, and Clare Short, the former international development secretary, who warned that the Prime Minister would risk being deposed as leader if he failed to change his ways. "We have got to say Blair's got to change or we have got to change Blair," Ms Short said.

The attack came as unions hit out at the Labour leadership's steadfast refusal to stage a debate on the Iraq issue.

Earlier the Prime Minister was also publicly criticised for the first time by Jan Kavan, the outgoing general secretary of the United Nations General Assembly, who criticised the failure to disarm Saddam Hussein through the UN route.

Mr Kavan said that it was time for Western countries to adopt the old Persian principal whereby leaders were given wise counsel on issues of war and peace. "Someone should be telling heads of state you have decisions based on weak evidence, unsubstantiated statements and false hope,'' he said. Mr Kavan's remarks were a clear reference to Mr Blair's heavily criticised dossier on the Iraqi threat.