Despite the failure so far to discover any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Michael Howard has said that he still believes going to war was "the right thing to do".

Speaking during a visit to British forces in southern Iraq on Friday, the Conservative leader also renewed his party's call for an independent inquiry into the government's handling of intelligence material in the build up to the war.

His comments came amid reports that David Kay, the US official leading the Iraq Survey Group's hunt for weapons of mass destruction, was set to stand down from his post.

Speaking to BBC Radio, Howard said his party had supported the war and added that "I still think it was the right thing to do".

"There were a number of different reasons for going to war. One was the extent to which Saddam Hussein had been in breach of so many United Nations resolutions over such a period of time," he said.

"Whether or not he had them [WMD] in the immediate run-up to the war, there is no doubt that he had had them in the past and he had demonstrated a readiness to use them."

But the Tory leader said the government had questions to answer about the claims it made before the war.

"That is why we have repeatedly asked for an independent inquiry of the kind that took place after the Falklands conflict so that all those questions can be fully investigated and laid to rest," he said.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats said the possible departure of Kay was a sign that no breakthrough was expected in the hunt for weapons of mass destruction.

"So far we have seen and heard very little of the group's activities. It would be helpful if Mr Kay is going to step down that a full account were given of where the group has been and what it has done," said foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell.

"Jubilation at the capture of Saddam Hussein cannot obscure the fact that the prime minister took Britain to war not to save the Iraqi people but allegedly to protect ourselves from weapons of mass destruction."