BUTLER INQUIRY: Whiter than white? No-one lied TONY BLIR No-one's to blame LORD BUTLER .

Byline: GAVIN CORDON

TONY Blair has conceded that Iraq probably did not have weapons of mass destruction -- after the Butler Inquiry found that intelligence reports used to justify the war were ``open to doubt'' and ``seriously flawed''.

However, although the inquiry concluded that Iraq had no significant stocks of chemical or biological weapons at the time of the invasion, the prime minister yesterday insisted he had acted in good faith and denied that the attack had been a mistake.

Conservative leader Michael Howard, however, warned that the premier's credibility had been damaged and the public would not trust him again to lead the country to war.

The inquiry, published yesterday, and which was set up to investigate the use of intelligence in the run-up to the conflict, criticised ministers for failing to challenge claims by the intelligence agencies that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

It suggested that MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, had been forced to rely on ``untried'' agents in Iraq because of the intense demands from Whitehall for information.

It also found that Mr Blair reinforced the impression that the intelligence underpinning the claims was ``fuller and firmer'' than it actually was through his statements in the House of Commons.

However, it cleared Mr Blair and other ministers of deliberately misleading parliament or the public over the case for war.

Instead, the brunt of the blame for the intelligence failures was laid firmly at the door of MI6 and the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) -- the senior body which draws up advice for ministers.

A confident Mr Blair told the Commons that the inquiry's report showed that the Government had acted in good faith.

``No-one lied. No-one made up the intelligence, '' he said. ``For any mistakes made, as the report finds, in good faith I of course take full responsibility, but I cannot honestly say I believe getting rid of Saddam was a mistake at all.

``Iraq, the region, the wider world is a better and safer place without Saddam.

Mr Howard accused the prime minister of turning the ``qualified judgments'' of the intelligence agencies into ``unqualified certainties'' to make the case for war.

``I hope we will not face in this country another war in the foreseeable future, but if we did and you identified the threat, would the country believe you?'' he demanded.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy complained that the narrow remit of the inquiry meant that it had been unable to investigate the key issue of the way in which politicians used intelligence to take the country to war.

And Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd responded to Mr Blair's comment that everyone had done their best in good faith, by asking: ``Somehow no-one is to blame for all this. Why don't you do the honourable thing?''

The prime minister said that if Mr Llwyd had his way, Saddam would still be running Iraq.

As Mr Llwyd shook his head vigorously, Mr Blair retorted: ``Oh yes. I have to deal with the consequences of my position. You have to deal with the consequences of yours. ''

The inquiry expressed ``surprise'' that ministers did not order the agencies to reassess the intelligence on Iraq after the United Nations inspectors failed to find any evidence of Saddam's banned weapons when they returned in early 2003.

It was also critical of the Government's controversial Iraqi weapons dossier -- drawn up by the JIC -- saying that it was at the ``outer limits'' of the available intelligence.

It said that the decision to issue the dossier in the name of the JIC was ``mistaken'' as it had meant that ``more weight was placed on the intelligence than it could actually bear''.

``The prime minister's description, in his statement to the House of Commons on the day of publication of the dossier, of the picture painted by the intelligence services in the dossier as `extensive, detailed and authoritative' may have reinforced this impression, '' the report said.

It also criticised the way major decisions on the ``vital matter of war and peace'' were taken by a ``small circle'' of key ministers and advisers around Mr Blair, without properly consulting the cabinet. However the inquiry's strongest criticisms were reserved for the process of intelligence gathering and analysis.

It acknowledged that its strictures were so severe that they would lead for calls for John Scarlett, the JIC chairman who is about to take over as head of MI6, to step down, although it said that they should be resisted.

Meanwhile, the United Nations former chief weapons inspector said last night the September 2002 dossier on Iraq's weapons capability was ``hyped and spun'' to a point where the public was misled.

Dr Hans Blix said it was wrong that caveats surrounding the West's knowledge about Saddam Hussein's suspected weapons of mass destruction, which featured in the original intelligence, were not included in the dossier as well.

Dr Blix said: ``I think it was a spin that was not acceptable. They put exclamation marks where there had been question marks and I think that is hyping, a spin, that leads the public to the wrong conclusions. ''

And Dr Blix said he had warned Tony Blair that he had serious reservations about Britain's intelligence on Iraq, telling him they were not impressed with intelligence service reports.

CAPTION(S):

Thomas; Llywelyn; The facts may be damning but no-one, apparently, is to blame; Opinion -- Page 8