Hertsmere MP James Clappison has joined the rest of the Conservative Party in supporting Prime Minister Tony Blair's stance against Iraq.

Following the Government's publication of its dossier of evidence against Iraq and Mr Blair's statement to the commons, Mr Clappison said he was satisfied Iraq posed a "serious and current threat" and was in the hands of an "evil regime".

Parliament was recalled for an emergency session, on Tuesday last week, to debate how to deal with the Iraq's leadership and its weapons of mass destruction. The session followed the publication of a 50-page dossier detailing Iraq's history of these weapons, its breach of United Nations' resolutions and a current weapons' programme.

Having listened to the debate in Parliament, Mr Clappison said: "I am satisfied, with what I have heard, that there is a serious threat. It would be very bad for Saddam Hussein to get his hands on nuclear weapons, and we need to deal with his weapons of mass destruction."

Mr Clappison said that Iraq posed a serious threat because, unlike other countries with weapons of mass destruction, it: was in the hands of an "evil regime", had refused to abide by international regulations, had invaded other countries like Kuwait, and had taken action against its own people.

The MP was just half-a-mile from the Pentagon, in Washington DC, when it was attacked by an Al-Quaeda-hijacked plane on September 11 last year the day which led to the so-called War on Terror.

October 1, 2002 16:30