Blair makes his case in the Commons

The following are quotes from the prime minister on his stance on disarming Saddam Hussein, beginning in 1998.

"We want a diplomatic solution to the crisis but the success or failure of diplomacy rests on Saddam. If he fails to respond then he knows the threat of force is there and it is real."

- statement after talks with then US President Bill Clinton amid concern over alleged hampering of UN weapons inspections by Saddam Hussein.

"We should never forget that, if we do not stop Saddam Hussein acting in breach of his agreement on weapons of mass destruction, the losers will be not just those threatened by him, but the authority and standing of the UN itself."

- House of Commons statement on an agreement between the UN and Iraq on weapons inspections

"We know, however, that under threat of force, we can make him move. If he again obstructs the inspectors' work, we will strike.

"There will be no warnings, no wrangling, no negotiation and no last-minute letters. The next time co-operation is withdrawn, he will be hit."

- House of Commons statement after strikes on Iraq - over failure to comply with weapons inspectors - were called off after a last minute concession by Iraq to the UN.

"Whatever the risks we face today, they are as nothing compared to the risks if we do not halt Saddam Hussein's programme of developing chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction."

"Even if there were legal authority to do so, removing Saddam through military action would require the insertion of ground troops on a massive scale - hundreds of thousands, as the British Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir Charles Guthrie, made clear this morning.

"Even then, there would be no absolute guarantee of success. I cannot make that commitment responsibly."

- Mr Blair reports to MPs on US-US military strikes on Iraq, saying Saddam had again blocked the work of the weapons inspectors.

Mr Blair says sanctions against Iraq should not be lifted while Saddam Hussein "continues to try and develop weapons of mass destruction".

"We cannot act in a way that would allow him to be a menace to that part of the world again."

- House of Commons

There were air strikes against Iraq in 1998

"Saddam Hussein's regime is despicable, he is developing weapons of mass destruction, and we cannot leave him doing so unchecked. He is a threat to his own people and to the region and, if allowed to develop these weapons, a threat to us also.

"Doing nothing is not an option ... Our way of proceeding should be and will be measured, calm and thought through."

- House of Commons

"The policy of containment is not working. The weapons of mass destruction programme is not shut down; it is up and running now.

"Our case is simply this: not that we take military action come what may, but that the case for ensuring Iraqi disarmament, as the UN itself has stipulated, is overwhelming."

- House of Commons

EU leaders "are all agreed on the need to ensure that Saddam has no chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programmes".

"We are working hard for agreement on the terms of a tough new Security Council resolution, should there then be a further breach by Iraq, I have no doubt that action must follow."

- House of Commons statement on European Council meeting

"If the challenge to us is to work with the UN, we will respond to it.

"But if we do so, then the challenge to all in the UN is this: the UN must be the way to resolve the threat from Saddam not avoid it."

- speech to TUC conference

Blair says Iraq's weapons must be dealt with

"This issue has to be dealt with and we are determined. We in Britain are determined that it should be dealt with, and it will be dealt with one way or another.

"But it is best dealt with through the United Nations, through the international community making its will clear, and Saddam then complying with that will. That's our preference, but nobody should be in any doubt that if it isn't dealt with in that way, it has got to be dealt with differently."

- BBC World Service interview

"The position of the international community is now unified and certain.

"The weapons inspectors must return to Iraq. They must carry out their work without any restriction, condition or inhibition on their effectiveness.

"The duty of Saddam Hussein is to co-operate fully and totally."

- comments on agreement of resolution 1441

"There was complete unanimity around the table that the choice for war or peace lies with Saddam, and that if he breaches the will of the United Nations, the United Nations will have to act.

"There was strong support for multilateralism and for the decision of President Bush to go through the UN, but equally strong insistence that multilateralism and the UN be seen to work."

- House of Commons statement on Nato summit

Mr Blair says it is right to take a multilateral approach to Iraq - but he warns that UN route had to be a way of tackling the situation, "not avoiding dealing with it".

"We are not going to have unilateral action. If there is a breach by Saddam (of UN resolutions) then the world recognises that action will have to follow."

Vowing to act within international law, he said the UN route must not be allowed to "fester".

- BBC News Interactive interview

"The European Council also issued a declaration on Iraq, giving its full and unequivocal support for Security Council resolution 1441 and urging Iraq to seize this final opportunity to comply with its international obligations."

- House of Commons

Mr Blair tells a Commons committee that a second resolution would be "highly desirable".

But he says military action should still follow if UN weapons inspectors concluded that the Iraqi leader was in breach of Security Council resolutions and "somebody puts down an unreasonable veto".

Mr Blair, appearing on the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme, says the only way war would take place without a second UN mandate was if the inspectors reported that Saddam was refusing to co-operate and a member of the Security Council exercised its right of veto.

"Let us, therefore, follow the UN route. Let us implement the resolution and let us make sure that the threat to our security from those weapons is properly dealt with."

- House of Commons

"This is a test for the international community, not just a test for the United States or for Britain.

"The judgment has to be at the present time that Saddam Hussein is not co-operating with the inspectors and is therefore in breach of the UN resolution and that's why time is running out."

- House of Commons

"Eight weeks have now passed since Saddam was given his final chance. Six hundred weeks have passed since he was given his first chance. The evidence of co-operation withheld is unmistakable

"People can come round behind the UN process, because resolution 1441 was passed by a unanimous Security Council. The integrity of that process is very clear. There is a duty fully to comply.

"If Iraq is not fully complying, having been given a final opportunity, a fresh resolution should issue. There is an inexorable logic to that, which will in the end bring people round."

- House of Commons

"If there is a breach of the original United Nations resolution 1441, a second resolution should issue.

British troops could soon be in action

"The only circumstances in which I have left room for us to manoeuvre are those in which it is clear that the inspectors are finding that Iraq is not co-operating, so it is clear that Iraq is in material breach, but for some reason someone puts down what I would describe as an unreasonable and capricious use of the veto.

"I do not believe that that will happen and I hope that it will not, but I do not think that it is right to restrict our freedom of manoeuvre in those circumstances because otherwise, the original spirit and letter of resolution 1441 would itself be breached.

"I believe and hope that we will resolve this issue through the United Nations."

- House of Commons

"I think if there were a second UN resolution then I think people would be behind me. I think if there's not then there's a lot of persuading to do."

- BBC Newsnight interview

"If Iraq is in breach of (resolution 1441), I believe that action should follow. However, I still believe that it is possible that we shall attain a second resolution in the UN. I believe that the matter should be resolved through the UN.

- House of Commons

"If we show weakness now, if we allow the plea for more time to become just an excuse for prevarication until the moment for action passes, then it will not only be Saddam who is repeating history.

"The menace, and not just from Saddam, will grow; the authority of the UN will be lost; and the conflict when it comes will be more bloody."

- Scottish Labour conference

"Iraq will be disarmed of weapons of mass destruction, whether it is done peacefully or by conflict, by military action, is up to Saddam and the Iraqi regime ... "

"If Iraq does not do so, then Iraq is in breach [of 1441]."

"I hope that all members of the Security Council will take their responsibilities seriously in that regard."

- House of Commons

"If the UN cannot be the way of resolving this issue, that is a dangerous moment for our world. That is why, over the coming weeks, we will work every last minute that we can to reunite the international community and disarm Iraq through the United Nations. It is our desire, and it is still our hope, that this can be done.

"If disarmament cannot happen by means of the UN route because Saddam Hussein is not co-operating properly, then what?

"We shall be left with a choice between leaving him there, with his weapons of mass destruction, in charge of Iraq - the will of the UN having therefore been set at nothing - and using force."

- House of Commons

"It certainly would be an unreasonable veto if Iraq is in material breach and we do not pass a resolution, because resolution 1441 made it absolutely clear that Iraq had a final opportunity to comply. If it is not complying, it is in breach.

"I believe that we will have support for a second resolution."

- House of Commons

Mr Blair says a second resolution would "undoubtedly" be put to a vote.

"In the past few days, I have spoken to many world leaders and discussed the issue with them. Not a single leader or official of any government disputes the fact that Saddam is not currently complying. Everyone accepts that he is not, that he is not co-operating properly and that he is a threat.

"Resolution 1441 stated that he had a final opportunity to disarm voluntarily and that he had to co-operate fully, unconditionally and immediately. Everybody accepts that he is not doing that."

- House of Commons

"My response is quite simply that I'm working flat out for a second resolution and the important thing at the moment is that we stay together and argue our case collectively and do everything possible to secure that second resolution."

- ITN interview following criticism of his stance by Clare Short

"I will certainly do everything I can to make sure that the international community stays united at this time and that we achieve a second UN resolution..... it is our intention to put a vote to the UN on a second resolution. We continue to work for that, flat out."

- House of Commons

Mr Blair says a second resolution is "now probably less likely than at any time", according to Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith after a meeting with the prime minister.