LONDON, 11 March 2003 — British Prime Minister Tony Blair, battling to win world support for war with Iraq, faced a home front revolt on the issue as the first public threat of a ministerial resignation laid bare the size of his gamble.
International Development Secretary Clare Short said late on Sunday that she would resign if Blair took Britain to war without UN backing and accused the prime minister of being politically, diplomatically and personally “reckless.”
Short’s attack, coming on the back of a massive parliamentary rebellion over war with Iraq, piles the pressure on Blair as he kicks off a fresh week of diplomatic lobbying to win enough votes to pass a second United Nations resolution. Blair warned of the need to show Iraq a united front but his refusal to sack Short showed just how carefully he knows he must tread over an issue that has sparked the worst parliamentary revolt of his premiership and cut his popularity.
“He believes that nobody should be sending a mixed signal to (Iraqi President) Saddam (Hussein) which would give Saddam the impression that once again he can duck making his decision,” Blair’s official spokesman said.
The spokesman said Short’s comments had surprised Blair but he refused to address the issue of Short’s position in government, saying Blair’s “focus remains resolutely on getting a second resolution”.
The move by Short — a popular and straight-talking member of Blair’s ruling Labour Party — could prompt other disgruntled ministers or members of Parliament to follow suit. Cabinet Minister Robin Cook is known to oppose war without a UN mandate, one junior government member has resigned his post over Iraq and several more have threatened to do so.
Some 122 Labour MPs recently voted against Blair’s stance on Iraq, raising questions over his political future if he goes to war without UN backing. A recent poll showed that only 15 percent of Britons would back war without a UN mandate.
“The prime minister is facing the worst political difficulties of his premiership, and indeed, of his leadership of the Labour Party,” former Cabinet minister and MP Jack Cunningham told BBC Radio yesterday.
Cunningham, who supports Blair’s stance, said Short’s move may spark a spate of resignation threats from within Labour.
The rebellion within Blair’s government also hit the sterling which yesterday set a four-year low versus the euro and slipped on the dollar as well.
Saying the Iraq crisis had reached “ten minutes to midnight”, the outspoken Short went further than just confirming weeks of rumors over her possible resignation.
“I will not uphold a breach of international law or this undermining of the UN and I will resign from the government,” she said. “The current situation is deeply reckless; reckless for the world, reckless for the undermining of the UN in this disorderly world...reckless with our government, reckless with his own future, position and place in history.”
Tam Dalyell, a Labour veteran and the oldest member of the House of Commons, went as far as to demand the resignation of Blair.
“The US and Britain are very wrong. I think it is too late for Tony Blair. Personally I want a new prime minister. We are looking for someone other than Tony Blair,” Dalyell said in French on France Inter radio.
Asked if he was saying Blair should resign, he said: “Yes, straight away.” “We are extremely angry at the positions taken by Britain and the US....Germany and France are right. I hope another prime minister would speak seriously with Germany and France,” Dalyell said.
