My favored beer the one time I was in Australia.
Posted on 09/07/2006 4:22:48 AM PDT by Jack2006
Tony Blair will announce later he will be stepping down as prime minister within the next 12 months, Downing Street has confirmed.
He will make a statement on his future between 1400 BST and 1500 BST.
He is not expected to give a precise date but Commons leader Jack Straw has indicated the prime minister plans to stand down in May.
It follows 48 hours of bitter feuding and a string of resignations over Mr Blair's refusal to name an exit date.
Mr Blair's official spokesman said: "The prime minister is very well aware of what the public must be thinking and will reflect that."
He said Mr Blair would not be giving a running commentary" on dates but was "very comfortable with what [environment secretary] David Miliband set out on Tuesday and will also reflect that".
Downing Street has rejected suggestions a deal had been struck to hand over power on 4 May, three days after Mr Blair notches up 10 years in power and the day after local elections.
But Mr Straw said earlier voters would expect Mr Blair to stay "to the halfway point of a normal four-year parliament", which would be May - thought to be a signal to supporters of Chancellor Gordon Brown calling for an earlier exit.
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Blair is thought likely put a precise date on his departure "some time in the New Year".
According to this timetable, Mr Blair would then resign as Labour leader in early May, with a new prime minister in place by early June.
But our correspondent stressed this was a provisional timetable and could change.
Mr Blair has been under pressure to quit earlier than May in order to get a new leader in place before elections in England, Scotland and Wales, which are expected to be disastrous for Labour.
'Acrimonious meeting'
Mr Brown - the man most likely to succeed Mr Blair - is also thought to be unhappy at the prospect of taking over at the end of a Parliamentary session.
The two men were reported to have to have had an "acrimonious meeting" over the issue on Wednesday morning.
It was followed by a day of open warfare between supporters of the chancellor and Mr Blair over when the prime minister should quit.
But with Mr Brown carrying out engagements in Scotland on Thursday, Cabinet ministers moved to calm speculation about Mr Blair's future.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Straw said he believed the prime minister had provided "sufficient certainty for the party to settle down, to draw back from this abyss" at the end of an "unsatisfactory" few days.
'Certainty'
Mr Blair had "made it clear - or it has been made clear on his behalf - this forthcoming conference, in three weeks' time, will be his last annual conference", he said.
"There has to be another leader in place by next year's annual conference.
"Our procedures take some time, because we're a democratic party," he said.
"There has to be some certainty about who the leader is before the summer break next summer, not afterwards, and people can then work backwards from there.
"I think that is satisfactory. I think it's what the party accepts."
Junior defence minister Tom Watson and seven government aides - or Parliamentary Private Secretaries - quit on Wednesday after urging Mr Blair to stand down.
Mr Blair branded Mr Watson, the most senior person to leave, "disloyal, discourteous and wrong" for signing the letter.
Allies of the chancellor denied the eight resignations were part of a plot by the Brown camp.
Palestinians dancing in the streets ... of London!
"Palestinians dancing in the streets ... of London!"
Eh?
He means that once Blair goes, our greatest ally in the UK on the War on Terror will be gone and replaced with a jellyfish the Islamofascists will rejoice over.
IOW Blair will step down after Iran gets bombed so that he can support us unlike his successor
Total nonsense.
If anything the backbench Labour MP's criticise Brown for always being in America and being too pro-American.
If you knew about British politics you would know that if Gordon Brown rebelled against the War in Iraq there would have been no British involvement.
He probably has more power over policy in the UK, than Cheney has in America and that's saying something.
Apres Blair le deluge
(Queen's) English translation: the Iraqi Government has until May 2007 to get its act together. After that, "things will happen automatically".
Whether it is Blair, Brown, Reid or Cameron - it doesn't matter.
Britain under Blair is already pulling out of Iraq. If the Iraqis want to kill each other then tough.
In addition - You give to much credence to America and Iraq in British politics.
Quite frankly they are afterthoughts.
The decision to go will be based around the Scottish Parliament and Welsh assembly elections.
I will miss Mr. Blair. A true and faithful ally in the War on Terror.
About the only thing Tony Blair has been good for is his stance on the War. Domestically and in dealing with Europe he has been a disaster.
I am enjoying watching Labour tear itself apart over him. Gordon Brown is going to be the Paul Martin of the UK, finally taking over as PM only to see his party go down in defeat.
David Cameron was not my first choice to lead the Tories, but with this mess, he will be Prime Minister after the next election. Good Riddance to "Cool Britannia" and "New" Labour...
I believe there is a parallel there with George Bush. His strongest suit is also the WOT. Domestically he is not a socialist, as is Tony Blair, but his brand of conservatism is certainly big government, which is parallel.
My feeling though is that both men follow their convictions, which makes them intrinsically honest.
If Gordon Brown was anti-US, he would have said so by now. The fact he’s said exactly nothing on foreign policy I’m 99% sure means that what he would say would annoy the Labour rank and file. Which is a good thing as far as most here are concerned.
When you say socialist it’s all relative. Tony Blair, leader of the ‘left wing’ party in the UK, is far more free market-inclined than Jacques Chirac, leader of the ‘right wing’ party in France. I’ve never voted Labour and I disagree with many of his policies but I look at Blair and think it could have been worse.
True socialism is dead in the UK, at least for now. It’s now all about arguing over the shade of the mixed economy.
My favored beer the one time I was in Australia.
Wasn't my first choice, either, but I've been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I don't understand Blair's popularity in the USA. He's been reasonably good on the GWOT--but it's a no brainer, isn't it? The Tories would have done better, if we had been in power.
I think some Americans don't realise that Blair is a Socialist. He's Left rather than Hard Left, and that's bad enough. It's his own Hard-Left that have turned on him now; good news, it paves the way for the Conservatives at the next general election.
All we have to do is keep Mr. Cameron true blue!
I presume the 'jellyfish' you mean is Gordon Brown.
Well, even if Blair does manage to stage a 'coronation,' I'm reasonably optimistic the Socialists will be out of office come next election. As a lame-duck leader of a rump Government, I'm not too worried about how much damage Mr. Brown can inflict before he is shown the door!
I agree President Bush is a man of integrity, honesty and conviction, but sorry, I don't apply any of that to Mr. Blair.
fyi
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