British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced demands today for a new probe into the Iraq war as his rivals launched a concerted attack on him over the US-led invasion for the first time in Britain's election campaign.
The anti-war Liberal Democrat party placed advertisements in newspapers showing a smiling Mr Blair beside US President George W. Bush under the headline "Never Again" and called for a public inquiry into Mr Blair's decision to go to war.
"Britain's international reputation has been damaged by the way Tony Blair took us to war," party leader Charles Kennedy told a news conference. "Tony Blair says history will be his judge. He is wrong. The British people will be his judge."
Mr Blair's trust ratings have plunged over Iraq but his government has already survived two major public inquiries into the war and analysts said it was unlikely to agree to another.
Iraq hit the top of the election agenda over the weekend as Mr Blair's Conservative opponents accused him of lying.
A Sunday newspaper claimed the government's top lawyer gave six reasons why Mr Blair might breach international law if he went to war without a second United Nations resolution.
The Attorney General later ruled the invasion was legal, prompting opponents to claim he had been put under pressure.
Mr Blair told a news conference no pressure had been applied but Foreign Secretary Jack Straw fell short of explicitly denying the report.
"I'm not confirming what is alleged to have been in a leaked document," he told BBC Radio. "I'm simply not confirming it."