President George W. Bush on Thursday cut an increasingly lonely and embattled figure as opposition Democrats and fellow Republicans greeted his “new way forward” in Iraq with a barrage of denunciation.

Although Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, said that Mr Bush’s plan to send a further 21,500 troops to Iraq “made sense”, the US president appeared more isolated than ever before. Republicans pointed to the fact that Mr Bush’s address came as the UK plans to announce by the end of next month the withdrawal of about 2,600 troops from Iraq.