It was as if everyone had been holding their breath for way too long. When the Prime Minister came to the Commons yesterday to announce a “drawing-down” of troops in Iraq, you could almost hear the whoosh as everyone exhaled. The relief that we were finally on our way out of Iraq was palpable. No one would say the word “withdrawal” but everyone knew this was the beginning of the end, and for that they were grateful.

It was the best news on Iraq in ages, but the Prime Minister’s tone was measured. He did not allow a scintilla of triumphalism into his voice. There is no doubt that he wrote this statement himself and it was as carefully choreographed as a ballet. Parts must have been painful to say. Tony Blair prefers to portray Iraq in ideological terms, as an epochal battle of good versus evil. Yesterday, though, he also noted the grim reality. There had been an “orgy of terrorism” and a “sickening level of carnage”. He said this with sadness but noted that it was nothing to do with him: it was the terrorists’ fault.

Many MPs do not agree, at least in parts. Some have been angry with the Prime Minister since the invasion in 2003, and that is a very long time to be angry. The Liberal Democrat benches got as close to seething as they ever have. Charles Kennedy, grim-faced, was there to say his piece. But neither Gorgeous George Galloway nor the newly independent Clare Short were present. It was an occasion where Robin Cook was missed.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former Foreign Secretary, was against the invasion and is incandescent over what has happened since. Yesterday he let rip, his deep baritone filling the chamber. “You are still in denial!” he boomed.

“Do you still not understand that the ability of al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations to use Iraq as a battleground was only possible because of the decision that you took and President Bush took to invade that country?”

He wagged a finger, so bony that Dickens could have invented it, at the Prime Minister. “Since then Iraq has virtually disintegrated,” he noted, “and 100,000 Iraqis have lost their lives.” Surely, he demanded, Mr Blair should apologise.

The Prime Minister refused to do any such thing. He shot back: “The reason it is tough in Iraq and is difficult is because terrorists are making it difficult.” This was met by a rumble of disagreement. “We did not cause the terrorism,” snapped Mr Blair. “The terrorists caused the terrorism.”

Sir Ming Campbell, teeth whistling like a teapot, was withering. If Mr Blair would not apologise, should he not at least accept responsibility for what has happened? “I agree that we are entirely responsible for the decision to remove Saddam,” said Mr Blair. As for the rest, he said, blame the terrorists. His most aggressive foe was Alex Salmond, of the SNP. He branded the statement a “long self-justification” and could not resist a taunt: “It was almost something that was being prepared for the Day of Judgment rather than the House of Commons.”

Some MPs harrumphed at this but this only encouraged Mr Salmond. “You did apologise for the slave trade, for which you had no personal responsibility. Would you at least apologise for the misinformation on weapons of mass destruction which took us into Iraq, and the carnage that has been the direct result?”

Mr Blair refused and denied it all, again and again. He left looking tired, for it is hard work delivering good news on Iraq.

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