Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has claimed that Tony Blair knew Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction ready for use within 45 minutes.
Mr Cook, who resigned his cabinet post in protest over the war on Iraq, said the Prime Minister privately admitted that Saddam Hussein had no weapons posing a 'real and present danger'.
The claims are made in Mr Cook's new book, extracts of which are published in the Sunday Times today. Downing Street has dismissed the claims as 'absurd'.
