Tony Blair met the 100th British soldier killed in Iraq during his pre-Christmas visit to the country, it emerged today, as all parties paid tribute to Corporal Gordon Pritchard at prime ministers' questions.

The 31-year-old father of three was killed yesterday, dying of his injuries after his Land Rover was hit by a roadside bomb.

Cpl Pritchard had met Mr Blair on December 22 last year, when the PM visited the Shaibah logistics base, near Basra airport in southern Iraq.