Blair faces fresh fire over Iraq policy

1.00pm

LONDON - Britain's Tony Blair will face a fresh barrage of criticism this week over his decision to wage war on Iraq, as opinion polls warn of the threat of a voter backlash in a general election likely within a year.

The prime minister will defend his Iraq policy at a parliamentary debate on Tuesday, with his critics accusing him of misleading Britain over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction -- the reason given for a war most Britons opposed.

Blair remains on track to win a third term in an election he is expected to call in the first half of next year but Iraq has crushed his public trust ratings and voter anger over the war could slash his Labour Party's massive parliamentary majority.

"What's absolutely clear now is that in order to try and win round the Labour rebels, Tony Blair actually deceived his own party and thereby deceived parliament and deceived the public," said Tim Yeo, MP for the opposition Conservative Party.

Asked on Sky News if Blair had "knowingly" misled MPs over Iraq's weapons, Yeo said: "I believe so."

Iraq hit Blair in parliamentary by-elections on Thursday when the anti-war Liberal Democrats, Britain's third party, overturned a Labour majority of more than 13,000 to win one seat and almost won a second Labour stronghold.

The polls -- which reflected Labour's poor performance in June local council and European elections -- came one day after a damning report exposed gaping holes in the pre-war intelligence on Iraq's lethal weapons.

The report, by former civil servant Lord Butler, absolved Blair of distorting intelligence but it contradicted claims Iraq's banned weapons were ready for use and showed that vital caveats were dropped from the spies' assessments.

Blair had hoped Butler's report would allow him to draw a line under Iraq, which has left him more vulnerable than at any other time in his seven-year premiership and has sparked talk of his resignation. But the row over the war raged on.

Former United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix told ITV Television Blair had argued the case for war on an "erroneous diagnosis".

"The effect of it was to mislead but I don't think it was done deliberately... There was an error of judgement," he said.

The prime minister has said Butler proved no one lied over Iraq but he has accepted responsibility for any errors made.

Blair, who marks 10 years as Labour leader on Wednesday, now wants to shift the focus to domestic issues. He will launch five-year plans on public services before parliament breaks for summer on Thursday.

The government sets out its plans to tackle crime on Monday.

But it remains to be seen if Blair can regain voters' trust.

A YouGov poll for The Sunday Times showed that 57 per cent of voters would not trust Blair to take Britain to war again, but also showed the Conservatives, who came an embarrassing third in Thursday's by-elections, are far from power.

Labour and the Conservatives were on 33 per cent each with the Liberal Democrats at 22 per cent. Pollsters say the Conservatives would need a lead of 10 percentage points in polls to stand a chance of ousting Labour.

"The shine has gone off him (Blair). But on current form, Labour will still win the next election comfortably," YouGov pollster Peter Kellner told Reuters.

Blair is now expected to turn his hand to a cabinet reshuffle to give his government a fresh face and new momentum.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq