|
Britain: Iraq crisis prompts aide to quit
The first rats scuttle away... (Edited for length)Tony Blair has suffered the first resignation from his government over the Iraq crisis and has been warned that more could follow. Loughborough "So I'm stabbing him in the back and hoping to make a name for myself as the man who brought Blair down" Three other parliamentary private secretaries — MPs who work as assistants to ministers — have indicated they also would step down if action was taken without a new UN resolution. Another unnamed aide to a cabinet minister told the Sunday Telegraph he would also depart if war went ahead without a new resolution. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said the resignation threats should be kept in context and most Labour MPs and ministerial aides did back Mr Blair's stance. Acknowledging Labour anxiety over Iraq, Mr Prescott said: "Tony Blair is giving leadership. That's what this party wants from Tony Blair. "We will go on seeking to get that second resolution at the UN, which we are fighting very hard for." Mr Prescott said Parliament would get a vote over a new second resolution, although its timing could not be allowed to threaten the safety of UK forces. Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt told Sky News it was rather "self-indulgent" to talk about resignation when ministers were working "flat out" on getting a new resolution. Labour rebel MP Alan Simpson said resignation was a sign of the gap between Downing Street and both the Labour Party and the public. "It is a very dangerous gap for the goverment to find itself in," he said. In a recent vote on the crisis, 122 Labour MPs rebelled against Tony Blair's hardline Iraq stance. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told ITV's Jonathan Dimbleby programme: "We reserve the right to make decisions if it is not possible to secure agreement here in the UN. "What we would be doing in those circumstances is actually putting into practice the UN's own writ." Posted by: Bulldog 2003-03-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=11089 |