British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair today shrugged off criticism from former Cabinet ministers over the so-called "dodgy dossier," insisting it accurately represented intelligence presented to the government.
Liberal Democrat leader Mr Charles Kennedy challenged Mr Blair over the issue at question time in the House of Commons, after Ms Clare Short and Mr Robin Cook gave evidence yesterday to the foreign affairs select committee.
Ms Short said Mr Blair had used "half truths and exaggerations" to get Britain into war against Iraq and Mr Cook claimed intelligence material was chosen selectively to fit a pre-determined policy.
In the Commons today, Mr Kennedy demanded: "When yesterday the former Foreign Secretary and former International Development Secretary both told the foreign affairs committee that they had been told by MI6 that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction capable of posing a direct threat to British security, were they correct?"
Mr Blair replied: "The intelligence that we put out in the dossier last September described absolutely accurately the position of the Government. "That position is that indeed Saddam Hussein was a threat to his region and the wider world.
"I always made it clear that the issue was not whether he was about to launch an immediate strike on Britain.
"The issue was whether he posed a threat to his region and the wider world."