PREVIEW-UK's Blair to unveil final laws
Source: Reuters
(Corrects name of trust in paragraph 10 of Nov 13 story to Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust from Joseph Rowntree Foundation Trust) By Katherine Baldwin LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Britain's Tony Blair will focus on the fight against terrorism and climate change when he unveils the last package of laws of his premiership this week in an effort to salvage a legacy tarnished by the Iraq war. His legislative programme, to be read to parliament on Wednesday by Queen Elizabeth, aims to silence critics who say he is a lame duck leader of a government that has run out of steam. Blair was forced in September to say he would step down within a year to quell a revolt in his Labour Party, fuelled in part by public and political opposition to the war in Iraq. Keen to show he still means business, Blair will present a climate change bill on cutting greenhouse gas emissions as well as a plan to reform pensions, by restoring the link between rises in the basic state pension and earnings. But the focus will be on security with bills to strengthen anti-terrorism powers and tackle organised and lower-level crime. There will also be proposals on controlling immigration. Blair's parliamentary majority, however, was slashed in a 2005 election and he may struggle to pass some of the tougher measures into law. Labour lawmakers have got a taste for rebellion, knowing their leader is on the way out. With his security focus, critics accuse Blair of playing politics by trying to portray new opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron as soft on crime and terrorism. Cameron has repackaged his party as more compassionate than before. Ministers say a warning last week by the head of Britain's domestic spy agency MI5 that Muslim radicals are plotting at least 30 major terrorist attacks in Britain show the need for stronger police powers. "I think that shows that the terror threat we face is very real," Blair's spokesman said on Monday of the MI5 warning. But the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust said Labour's anti-terrorism laws to date had been "self-defeating and harmful" by having a disproportionate impact on Muslims. "The combination of tough laws and tough talk ministers have adopted is divisive..." the Trust's report said. BLAIR-BROWN EFFORT The Conservatives, who analysts say have a chance of winning the next election, expected in 2009, maintain Labour is rehashing old ideas because it is obsessed with its leadership. Blair is expected to resign before mid-2007, possibly after elections in May for the Welsh assembly, Scottish parliament and English councils. Some in Labour fear the party could fare as poorly as the U.S. Republicans in last week's mid-term polls. Blair led Labour to three straight election victories but public anger over his support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq has turned him into a liability in the eyes of many in his party. Finance Minister Gordon Brown is the favourite to succeed Blair and the new bills are a joint effort. Blair will seek greater powers to seize terrorists' assets and to tighten control orders under which suspected terrorists are kept under virtual house arrest, according to the Law Society, a regulatory body that has analysed the proposals. Blair has also put climate change high on his agenda but environmentalists say the bill will be an empty shell and criticise Blair for rejecting annual targets on carbon emissions.
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