Blair facing 'very rough ride'

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair, battling to maintain his authority after being defeated in parliament over new anti-terrorism powers, admitted he now faced a "very rough ride" pushing through reforms.

But he firmly believed he was right in seeking powers to let police hold terrorist suspects for up to 90 days without charge.

"I am sorry because the terrorist threat we face is not imagined," Blair wrote in an article for Sunday's News of the World newspaper after suffering his first parliamentary defeat in more than eight years in power.

"Hardly a day goes by without some country somewhere in the world falling victim to it. Last week it was Jordan, the week before it was India, a short time before that Egypt," he said.

"It is not scare-mongering to warn people of the danger we face," he added. "Weakness is not the way to defeat it."

Blair, who swept to power in 1997 with a landslide election victory, has seen his position weakened since the 2003 Iraq war despite winning a third term in power in May.

That was underlined in a weekend poll in the Guardian newspaper which showed that almost two thirds of voters believed his authority had been damaged as a result of the lost vote.

Blair said last year he would not stand for a fourth term, prompting critics to label him a lame duck premier.

Jeremy Corbyn, one of the serial rebels in the ruling Labour party, said it would be "very difficult" for Blair to survive if he went down to another parliamentary defeat.

But Blair has pledged not to water down plans to reform schools, hospitals and welfare benefits. He passionately supports them; many in his party oppose them.

"All of this will require more difficult and strong leadership," Blair wrote in the Sunday tabloid. "Sometimes, as with this week, I'll be given a very rough ride."

Blair said he and his cabinet are determined to "continue doing what is right, not what is easy."

Police had called for the new powers after suicide bombers killed 52 people in London on July 7. Critics say they would have been a huge infringement of civil liberties.

In Wednesday's bruising day for Blair, parliamentarians later voted in favour of a much lower, 28-day detention limit, up from 14 now.

- REUTERS