British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair is expected to tell a committee of Commons MPs today that he is opening an inquiry into apparent intelligence failings over Iraqi weapons.
The move follows the announcement of a similar inquiry by US President George W Bush - which appears to have caught Downing Street by surprise.
Mr Blair has resisted calls for an inquiry and has not accepted that the case for attacking Iraq has been seriously undermined by the failure to find banned weapons months after Saddam Hussein was toppled.
But pressure has been mounting on Mr Blair to explain why the intelligence used to justify the attack has so far proven flawed.
The official British government line that evidence of weapons could yet be found has been increasingly difficult to sustain since chief US weapons inspector Mr David Kay quit his post last month.
Critics say the inquiry is an attempt to blame its intelligence services. "It would be grotesque if the intelligence agencies were made to carry the can for what was ultimately a political decision," former foreign secretary Mr Robin Cook said.
"We know there are no weapons of mass destruction, we know there was no threat, we know we got it wrong," he said.
Some commentators, including those within his own party, believe today's announcement is inspired by Mr Bush's decision. 0"I think it's humiliating that we are just being an echo of the US again," former Cabinet minister Ms Clare Short said.
The terms of the inquiry will be key to Mr Blair's attempt to restore his battered credibility over the Iraq adventure.
PA