The foreign secretary has mounted a passionate defence of the decision to go to war with Iraq.

Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Jack Straw said that failure to act would have allowed a "re-empowered" Saddam Hussein to continue threatening the stability of the region and repressing the Iraqi people.

During Foreign Office questions, Labour backbencher David Winnick said that he was "proud indeed" that Saddam Hussein's "murderous tyranny" had been removed from power.

"The government and the prime minister should be proud of what was done.  If military action had not been taken, Saddam would have continued to rule for years ahead," he added.

Responding, Straw warned against "rewriting history" and said the decision to go to war was not based on intelligence but on Saddam's failure to comply with numerous UN resolutions.

"[Security council resolution] 1441 was passed, it imposed very clear obligations on Saddam. He failed to follow those obligations that were imposed upon him.

"And 1441 itself did not require a second resolution, it did say to Saddam that if he failed to meet his obligations serious consequences would follow."

Straw then told MPs that if Britain and America had failed to act, the consequences for Iraq and the region would have been grave.

"There is no doubt that had we not taken military action in March of last year, Saddam would not just have been there to continue his oppression of the Iraqi people," he said.

"Saddam would not just have been there but he would have been re-emboldened and re-empowered to increase the terror on his own people and threaten the stability of the whole of the rest of the region."