The prime minister received differing levels of support from Iain Duncan Smith and Charles Kennedy yesterday.

While Tony Blair was participating in the Azores summit, both opposition leaders were addressing their party's Spring conferences.

Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith pledged his party's support for the prime minister's efforts.

Charles Kennedy accused the PM of betraying his Labour Party legacy by appearing to abandon the United Nations route in his preparations for war. The Liberal Democrat leader told his party faithful that Blair was attending a "council of despair" at which the participants had abandoned all hope of a peaceful outcome.