The Prime Minister's official spokesman, Mr Alastair Soup, has admitted there was no hard evidence after all that two soliders were executed by Iraqis, as originally claimed by the PM. In a statement to journalists he said there was an element of doubt over the affair, though later agreed there was also an element of doubt over the element of doubt.

Mr Soup said they would continue to investigate the circumstances of the soldiers' deaths, and then retracted that statement. "Things are moving pretty fast now that we've secured Basra," he said, "although I've just found out that we've not actually secured it yet."

"We think we get clear unambiguous news to you pretty rapidly," he continued, "within the usual bounds of uncertainty and fudge, naturally. We won't make any more mistakes, that's for sure. Sorry, I didn't mean to say that."