THE Archbishop of York has called on Tony Blair to show more humility by listening rather than exercising power in an authoritarian way.

The rebuke from Dr David Hope, Britain’s second most senior church leader, was combined with a call for more openness, honesty and integrity in government at a time when “terror stalks us on every side”.

In an exclusive interview with The Times today, the Archbishop called on people to pray for Mr Blair and urged the Prime Minister to consider the “higher authority” he would one day have to face.

Dr Hope’s plea echoed that of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who gave warning at the official Iraq remembrance service that Mr Blair would be “called to account” for his decision to take Britain into war.

Mr Blair said earlier that he was ready “to meet my maker” and answer for “those who have died or have been horribly maimed as a result of my decisions”. But he suffered another blow in his attempts to defend the war yesterday when his claim that the Iraq Survey Group had found “massive evidence of a huge system of clandestine laboratories” was contradicted.

Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, without knowing that these were Mr Blair’s words, said that the claim was not true.

Mr Bremer said: “It sounds like a bit of a red herring to me. It sounds like someone who doesn’t agree with the policy sets up a red herring then knocks it down.”

He was forced to row back when told the claims were made by Mr Blair. “There is actually a lot of evidence that had been made public,” he told ITV1’s Jonathan Dimbleby programme.

Dr Hope acknowledged the positive effect of the capture of Saddam Hussein, but made clear that this had not eased the concerns of church leaders. This year, both the bishops and the General Synod tried to insist on UN backing for any military action.

Referring to Iraq, Dr Hope said: “It just seemed to me that there was a real lack of listening. One of the qualities of a good leader is that they have to be really attentive to the views of the people. It seemed at one stage that that was not happening.”

He acknowledged that the report of the Hutton inquiry, expected in the new year, would probably prompt some kind of review, and said that the whole affair raised questions of leadership and trust.

He said: “We still have not found any weapons of mass destruction anywhere in Iraq. Are we likely to find any? Does that alter the view as to whether we really ought to have mounted the invasion or not? Undoubtedly a very wicked leader has been removed, but there are wicked leaders in other parts of the world.”

Dr Hope called on church members to help by praying for the Prime Minister. “We must spend a bit more time thinking and praying about the awesome responsibilities on people in positions of leadership, more time praying for Tony Blair.”

He urged Mr Blair and President Bush to heed the message of the Incarnation, that success was ultimately achieved through humility and vulnerability not through worldly power. He gave a warning that they, like him, would one day have to answer before God for their actions. “I want to say . . . that there is a higher authority before whom one day we all have to give an account,” he said.

He added that effective leadership was also vital in a world which is “increasingly unstable, increasingly anxious, a world where terror stalks us on every side”.

“In that sort of climate people do begin to act in more extreme ways because of the fear. Therefore one needs to look to those in leadership positions to exercise a calm, quiet authority,” he said.

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