British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair came under fresh pressure today to allow parliament to have a say in whether or not he joins any US-led military action against Iraq.
One of Mr Blair's most vocal critics in his own party, veteran MP Mr Tam Dalyell, told Mr Blair that for MPs the issue of Iraq was the "most important decision of their political lives".
In an open letter to the prime minister, Mr Dalyell - one of Labour's most senior MPs - said Blair had a moral obligation to recall parliament from its summer break and debate the issue with his political colleagues.
Mr Dalyell's intervention followed a warning from a former British chief of defence staff that Mr Blair risked being dragged into a "very, very messy and long-lasting Middle East war" if it joined the United States in a military assault against the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Field Marshal Lord Bramall urged Mr Blair to proceed very cautiously and warned that without United Nations backing, both Mr Blair and US President George W. Bush could be on shaky legal and moral ground if they decided to launch an attack.
Both Mr Blair and Mr Bush have repeatedly said no decisions have yet been taken on whether to launch a military assault on Iraq and that a strike is not imminent.
Mr Blair is facing growing dissent from left-wingers in his Labour government.
In his letter to Blair today, Mr Dalyell demanded: "In circumstances in which a distinguished chief of the general staff feels obliged to...warn of a very messy and long-lasting Middle East war...do you not have a moral obligation to ask for the recall of parliament in early September?"