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LONDON - A British government minister was quoted today as saying the Iraq war was UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's "big mistake in foreign affairs", in a potential new embarrassment for the Labour government.
Margaret Hodge, minister for industry, also accused Blair of "moral imperialism" -- trying to impose British values and ideas on other countries, said The Islington Tribune, a north London local newspaper.
It said she made the comments at a private dinner with The Fabian Society think-tank, attended by the newspaper's editor.
Hodge was not available for comment.
Blair's spokesman earlier declined to comment on the report but noted Iraq had for the first time a democratically elected government.
"We have a prime minister, a government that is trying to bring the country together," he said, but added nobody was disputing "the difficulties there are in Iraq".
Many of the prime minister's opponents and political analysts refer to his decision to back the US-led 2003 Iraq war as the biggest error of his nine-year premiership, but no serving government minister has spoken out in this way.
The opposition Liberal Democrats, who were against the war from the start, said Hodge's remarks, if correctly quoted, showed the "increasingly divided nature of the Labour Party".
"At last Labour ministers are beginning to acknowledge what many members of their party and the public know to be true," said party leader Menzies Campbell.
In recent months, Blair has faced growing criticism of his Iraq strategy from politicians and military officers.
Blair has said Britain's strategy in Iraq must "evolve" and US President George W. Bush is waiting for the results of a review by a bipartisan committee into policy options on Iraq.
The Islington Tribune quoted Hodge as saying she had doubts in 1998 about Blair's attitude to foreign affairs because he had espoused "moral imperialism".
But she had accepted his arguments on the Iraq invasion because "he was our leader and I trusted him", the paper said.
She added: "I hope this isn't going to be reported."
Blair, who has won three consecutive terms for Labour, has said he will step down next year and is expected to go by mid-2007 after completing 10 years in office.
- REUTERS
