REDCAR'S Labour MP has been explaining why she changed her mind and did not back her rebel colleagues in Wednesday night's Iraq vote.

In her column in last Friday's East Cleveland Advertiser, Vera Baird said: "We should only take action if we can be sure that... the cause they are fighting for is morally and legally the right one. This is why the Prime Minister Tony Blair has done the right thing in getting the US President to seek an additional resolution and build a coalition against Saddam."

But by Tuesday, Britain and the US had abandoned efforts to gain a second resolution. After seeing the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith's statement to Parliament making the legal case for war, Mrs Baird - a QC - expressed her intention to vote against the Government the following night.

At the time she said: "Lord Goldsmith has done what any good lawyer would do - he's done a job for a client. I fundamentally disagree with him. The war is completely unlawful. I won't be voting with the Government."

Then, when the vote came, she abstained - voting neither for the Government or for war.

Mrs Baird said: "I changed my tack as it became clear this was going to become an issue about Tony Blair's leadership. So I stuck to my principles in that I didn't vote for war but did not vote against Blair.

"It became clear as the afternoon progressed that both the whips and the opposition were saying this was about the Prime Minister's leadership and that he was considering his position if he had to rely on the Tories."

The MP claimed there was 'no pressure' from the whips to change her mind and that it was entirely her decision to abstain.

"There's no doubt that I'm a Blairite loyalist in almost every way,"said Mrs Baird. "I have differences with him over student top-up fees and foundation hospitals, but these can be discussed."

Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, continued his support of war against Iraq by voting with the Government. He said: "I am glad that after nearly a quarter of a century Saddam Hussein looks like getting his comeuppance."