Blair slams critics says won't quit

BRITAIN: Tony Blair insisted Monday he was staying in his job despite calls from some within his Labour Party to step down after a poor showing in local elections and a string of scandals that have pummeled his government's popularity.

He lashed out against rebels trying to oust him, saying his victory in last year's general election showed the British people want him in charge. Though he renewed a pledge to step aside before the end of his current third term, he warned that some of those asking for a departure date want to drag the party back to the left and outside of the political mainstream.

"I will fight that all the way," he said at his monthly news conference.

An energized Conservative opposition sought to capitalize on Blair's troubles and their own successes in the local vote. Tory leader David Cameron called a news conference just an hour before Blair's and said his party would provide Britain with better leadership than Labour.

"This is a state of civil war at the highest levels of government," Cameron said. "They are incompetent ... running out of steam, running out of ideas, divided from top to bottom."

The prime minister said at his monthly news conference that he would step down long enough before the general election - expected in 2009 - to give his successor time to establish himself before facing the voters. But he argued that setting a date in advance would make it impossible for him to do his job.

"To state a timetable would simply paralyze the proper working of government, put at risk the necessary changes we are making for Britain and therefore damage the country," Blair said. "It wouldn't end this distraction, but merely take it to a new level."

He repeated the message to Labour lawmakers at a private evening meeting in the House of Commons. Only two or three of the approximately 20 legislators who spoke during the hourlong meeting were critical of Blair, said a party source who attended but spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal details of the meeting.

"At the end of the day, we're all in it together," the source said. "What we all want is a fourth Labour term."

A Blair aide, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said the prime minister told those present he wanted his legacy to be a fourth term for the party. He said the lawmakers accepted Blair's assurance that he would ensure an orderly transition of power when the time comes.

Speculation about the timing of Blair's departure from office has been intense since Labour came in an embarrassing third place in the local elections. That followed weeks of bad news for the government and a big slump in the prime minister's popularity.

Some Labour lawmakers are circulating a draft letter calling for him to publicly state his departure date, a legislator from the party has told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Blair's likely successor, Treasury chief Gordon Brown, said over the weekend that Labour needed to renew itself, though he said he was talking about policies rather than leadership.

Blair said he "of course" still sees Brown as the best choice to be his successor.

The elections for local councils followed a dismal period for the government, which has acknowledged it allowed more than 1,000 foreign criminals to be released at the end of their sentences without considering them for deportation. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's admission of an extramarital affair with a secretary added a sordid note to the troubles.

Blair shook up his Cabinet on Friday, firing Charles Clarke as head of the Home Office, which was responsible for the prisoners; demoting Jack Straw from foreign secretary to leader of the House of Commons; and stripping Prescott of most of his departmental responsibilities.

Blair dismissed as "rubbish" reports that he moved Straw out of his high-visibility job because the two disagreed about the possibility of military action against Iran or because Washington disapproved of him.

"It has got nothing to do with that," he said. "He was a superb foreign secretary. ... Look, in the end I'm afraid as prime minister you do reshuffle your Cabinet from time to time."

Straw often said the possibility of military action against Iran was "inconceivable," a word Blair has not used, although he says no one is talking about such a strike. The two denied they disagreed.

Blair said he and Straw had discussed Straw's eventual departure as foreign secretary last year, adding that he would have key responsibilities in his new post for shepherding the government's domestic agenda through Parliament.

London, Tuesday, AP