Tony Blair, the British prime minister, faces a possible defeat in a vote on whether he should order an inquiry into how Britain joined the war in Iraq.

A parliamentary motion calling for an immediate investigation of the war by a committee of senior ministers was proposed by the minority Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties and will be debated in the lower House of Commons on Tuesday.

Blair is opposed to any inquiry while British troops are still in Iraq.

But rebels from his governing Labour Party, unhappy with the decision to join the US-led March 2003 invasion, could vote with opposition parties in big numbers to force the inquiry, according to media reports.

Blair can usually count on a cushion of Labour's 62-seat working majority in the Commons to get him through difficult votes.

Under pressure

Blair is already seen by some as being under the spot light after pledging to step down by September 2007, but a defeat in parliament could further weaken his authority and even hasten his departure.

His spokesman asked: "When troops are serving overseas, in whose interests is it to make such an announcement?"

The main opposition, the Conservative Party, which voted to join the US-led coalition, has submitted an amendment to the bill calling for an inquiry once control in Iraq is handed back to the war-torn country's authorities.

The vote is likely to be very close as an unnamed senior aide to David Cameron, the Conservative leader, has said that if the amendment is not accepted, his party will join forces with the nationalists and the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats in voting for an immediate inquiry.

It provides an opportunity for the first major debate on the war in Iraq since the invasion.

‘War gone wrong’

Adam Price, Welsh nationalist minister, said: "I think that most members of parliament, many accept now that we were actually sold this policy based on false claims about an arsenal of weapons that didn't exist.

"We really need to understand how the government came to get it so badly wrong."

Alex Salmond, Scottish National party leader told GMTV television that the war had "obviously gone badly wrong".

"We are stuck in a bloody quagmire in Iraq with no end in sight," he said.

"It is also to see if we can mobilize the degree of concern in the House of Commons about the developing situation because many, many people think a change of strategy is badly required and if that required an immediate change in prime minister to secure that strategy then so be it."

The vote is scheduled for Tuesday evening, although no precise time has been set.

Photo Caption

Tony Blair, the British prime minister