Defiant PM says: I'll face down Iraq protesters

[cal04]

War critics dismissed as 'urban intellectuals'. Most Britons want troops out, poll shows

Tony Blair will signal this week that Labour should abandon "urban intellectuals" who deserted it over the Iraq war. As the party's conference begins in Brighton today he is determined to face down growing pressure for a withdrawal of British troops. He believes Labour will lose if it seeks to win back middle-class voters who protested against the war at the last election and can rely instead on its heartland to remain in power.

Mr Blair's hardline stance comes as a poll released last night showed that a majority of Britons wanted UK troops to pull out. Senior military, diplomatic and intelligence figures added their voices to the protest last night. The Prime Minister's determination to ignore the issue was made clear yesterday when party managers stifled a proposed debate on Iraq. Mr Blair will make only a passing reference to the subject in his main conference speech on Tuesday, most of which will be about the importance of improving choice in health and education.

His strategy was made clear by one of his ministers last week who said that " urban intellectuals" accounted for just 4 per cent of the vote. Liam Byrne singled out Cambridge - lost to the Liberal Democrats on an anti-war vote - as he argued that Labour must stick to economic issues. "If we win back Cambridge but lose seats such as Crawley, we will be out of power." The spectre of the conflict loomed over the eve of the gathering, however, as senior military and diplomatic figures added their voices to calls for an exit strategy.

The former top mandarin at the Ministry of Defence, Sir Michael Quinlan, told The Independent on Sunday: "Perhaps we shall soon be - if we are not already - doing more harm by staying as perceived occupiers than by departing." Meanwhile a YouGov poll for Five News last night showed that 57 per cent of those asked said yes to the question "should British troops pull out of Iraq?" while 27 per cent said no.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article314994.ece

[mr blur]

1. Poor Tony

He sinks a little lower every time he opens his mouth these days.

[D-Notice]

2. Who knew that

being clever could be used as an insult? Guess this explains the pandering to the Sun.

Poodle only wants "true believers" not people who are able to think for themselves...

The fact that he's calling people names, shows he's lost the argument & is desperate to deflect attention from that fact.

[moggie]

3. The Stupid Party

John Stuart Mill described the tories as "the stupid party", but it seems Blair wants that label for Labour, having borrowed so much else from the tories.

[non sociopath skin]

4. I suspect that Blair's judgement is flawed on this.

In the archetypal blue-collar town where I live, the little support that remains for the war comes from the white-collar leaders of the local Labour Party.

The Skin