Tony Blair has received yet more criticism for his role in the Iraq war.

Two former Cabinet ministers and two leading bishops all questioned the legitimacy of the decision to go to war.

Former foreign secretary Robin Cook and former international development secretary Clare Short both renewed their criticism of the prime minister.

And they were joined by Dr David Hope, the Archbishop of York.

He warned the prime minister would have to answer in the end to God.

And Dr Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, described Blair as a "vigilante".

Cook warned that the prime minister may never win back public trust after the Iraq war.

"It is undignified for the prime minister, and worrying for his nation, to go on believing in a threat which everyone else can see was a fantasy," he wrote in the Independent.

"Nor will Tony Blair ever recover his credibility until he stops insisting he is right when the public can see he was wrong."

His comments followed another outspoken attack by Clare Short who accused the prime minister of lying.

She claimed his "lies" in the case for war were worse than those of John Profumo - the Cabinet minister who had to resign in 1963 over his links with two vice girls.

"For the honour of the government and the renewal of the Labour Party, I very much hope he steps down gracefully," Short told Sky News.

"Blair lied to the British people when he claimed Saddam had an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Nobody thought there was imminent danger. This is all talked up and talked up to the point of deceit."

The Archbishop of York was equally tough on the prime minister.

"We still have not found any weapons of mass destruction anywhere," said Dr Hope."Are we likely to find any? Does that alter the view as to whether we really ought to have mounted the invasion or not? Undoubtedly a very wicked leader has been removed but there are wicked leaders in other parts of the world."

Dr Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, questioned the credibility of Tony Blair and US President George W Bush."For Bush and Blair to go into Iraq together was like a bunch of white vigilantes going into Brixton to stop drug dealing," he said."This is not to deny that there's a problem to be sorted, just that they are not credible people to do it."

Their comments followed comments by the US official in charge of Iraq who contradicted the prime minister over the existence of Saddam Hussein's deadly arsenal of weapons.

Paul Bremer, rejected Blair's claim that the Iraq Survey Group had found "massive evidence" of a weapons programme.

He dismissed the statement as a "red herring".

"That is not what David Kay [head of the Iraq Survey Group] has said," Bremer told journalists.

"It sounds like a bit of a red herring to me. It sounds like someone who doesn't agree with the policy sets up a red herring then knocks it down."

Liam Fox, co-chairman of the Conservative Party, seized on the prime minister's discomfort.

"Once again the impression has been given of a prime minister willing to say anything to save his skin and of a Labour government divided, untrustworthy and seemingly incapable of telling the truth to the British people," he said.