BRITAIN: The British government last night denied making naval preparations as 10 Downing Street dismissed as "absolute rubbish" press reports that the aircraft carrier Ark Royal was sailing to the Mediterranean in preparation for speedy deployment to the Gulf, writes Frank Millar, London Editor
Insisting that the ship was taking part in an annual pre-planned NATO exercise, a spokesman for the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, again insisted London was not yet at "the point of decision" over military action against President Saddam Hussein.
At the same time, speculation about military strikes intensified as the US Energy Secretary, Mr Spencer Abraham, urged Britain and other allies to start building their oil reserves as a matter of "overall energy security".
The domestic political pressure on Mr Blair continued as senior Labour MPs clashed over demands for an early recall of parliament, while a second opinion poll showed 52 per cent of Britons opposed to a US-led war.
Meanwhile, former British Foreign Secretary Lord Hurd suggested it would be possible to frame a legal justification for an attack on Iraq in terms of self-defence or Iraq's breach of existing UN resolutions. However, he said the Americans narrowed their options if they insisted on "regime change" without any international authority.
As Mr Blair started his summer holiday in France, meanwhile, Number 10 was repeating his refusal to be pinned down on the form of any consultation with the House of Commons over any commitment of British forces to a US-led mission.
The issue shot back into prominence as Mr Tam Dalyell, the "Father of the Commons", wrote to Mr Blair telling him of his "moral obligation" to recall parliament early next month and consult MPs before any decisions were taken.
Mr Dalyell said: "It is always supposedly too early to make a decision to recall parliament - until it is too late." At that point, he said, critics would be accused of "stabbing British forces in the back".
However Mr Dalyell found himself under immediate attack as "an appeaser".
Mr David Winnick MP, a member of the home affairs select committee, said it should be borne in mind that Mr Dalyell "totally opposed the liberation of Kuwait and the action in Kosovo and Afghanistan. With the greatest respect to Mr Dalyell, he is an appeaser of military and criminal dictatorships, which he has every right to be."