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"There is an onus on the governments to ensure that as much of the Agreement as possible is implemented now," he said. "We cannot allow the IRA to stand in the way of change and progress for all of us."

Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, said today that the IRA's move was a "direct consequence" of the two administrations blaming the IRA for the £26.5 million Northern Bank robbery.

He said: "The two governments have embarked on a course of confrontation with Republicans and I think they are engaged in the sterile politics of the blame game without any consideration of the consequences."

There was a "deepening crisis" in the Northern Ireland peace process, Mr McGuinness told BBC Breakfast. But he added that the IRA was not suggesting its ceasefire would end.

Sinn Fein, he insisted, was committed to the peace process and implementing the Good Friday Agreement. There was now a "mighty responsibility" on the British and Irish governments and the political parties to deal with the problems and move the process forward, he said.

Mr Blair's official spokesman said today that the Government was not seeking confrontation with Sinn Fein, but insisted that the Government had a duty to state the facts "as they are" about the IRA's involvement in the Northern Bank raid.

The spokesman said: "It's fair to say that withdrawing from decommissioning is something the IRA have done before at times of difficulty, most recently after the breakdown in the talks in 2003. To that extent, we are not surprised.

"The Government is not seeking confrontation with Sinn Fein. We do recognise the contribution that both Sinn Fein and the IRA have made to the peace process. But equally, it's our duty to state the facts as they are and the facts are that the IRA did carry out the robbery."

Peter Hain, the Leader of the House, told MPs today that it was vital to keep the peace process on track and accused the Tories of "continuously undermining" it.

"I hope the Conservative front bench, for once under this current leadership, will actually back the Government in seeking to get it back on track instead of continuously sniping away and undermining the peace process," he said.

Sir Patrick Cormack, Conservative member for South Staffordshire, said Sinn Fein's "so-called members of Parliament" were "no longer entitled" to the privileges they enjoyed as MPs.

Ian Paisley Jnr, a senior DUP figure, scornfully accused the IRA of "throwing their toys out of the pram".

Mr Paisley Jnr is a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, which will hold its first public meeting since the bank raid today. Hugh Orde, Police Service of Northern Ireland chief constable, will update members on the investigation.

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