The British Defence Secretary, Mr Geoff Hoon has confirmed that Britain is preparing for military action against Iraq.
There has been no official response from Baghdad yet to the new United Nations resolution, which gave Saddam Hussein until Friday to agree to allow in weapons inspectors or face "serious consequences" - widely assumed to mean war.
Mr Hoon claimed the international community's willingness to use force was a factor in Saddam's change of attitude towards weapons inspectors but stressed that military action would be a last resort.
He refused to elaborate on details of dates or tactics but said Saddam had to be shown that "we mean business".
He added that he expected Iraq to comply with UN demands.
"We are preparing, and indeed it's clear that the response of Iraq to the United Nations has been determined by the fact that we have shown our willingness to use military force should that become necessary," he said this morning.
Questioned over whether Britain would be ready for a massive offensive early next year and what its tactics might be, Mr Hoon said: "I don't think it would be sensible at this stage to go into that kind of detail but clearly the United States and indeed the United Kingdom have had a range of military plans available as we do in the event of contingencies developing anywhere in the world.
"We've certainly got to be ready, I don't want to put any specific dates on that but I assure you... that we are prepared."
He added: "That has been the position for some time now and indeed it does reflect the change in attitude. Not many months ago Iraq was saying that they would never ever accept the return of weapons inspectors.
"We're obviously expecting them now to accept the will of the international community.
"That is because we have been prepared to indicate a determination to use force should it become necessary but I want to emphasise that is a last resort."
PA