UK's Blair defeats opposition call for Iraq probe
Source: Reuters
(Adds details, edits) By Katherine Baldwin LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair, U.S. President George W. Bush's strongest ally in the Iraq war, defeated an opposition bid in parliament on Tuesday to force an inquiry into his handling of the conflict. Defence Secretary Des Browne, however, said an investigation would eventually be carried out. "When the time is right, of course there will be such an inquiry," Browne told BBC television. The Ministry of Defence promptly said Browne had not signalled a change in government policy. "The government's position remains the same. We are not ruling out further inquiries and we are not ruling them in," a ministry spokesman told Reuters. Despite defeating the parliamentary bid to launch a probe, the governing Labour Party's majority was more than halved to 25 as about a dozen Labour lawmakers rebelled on an issue that has divided the party and the country and eroded Blair's authority. Browne even cancelled his first trip to Washington as defence secretary to be present for the debate. He had been scheduled to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and make a speech at Johns Hopkins University about Afghanistan. Opposition politicians said the vote had further weakened the prime minister -- a claim dismissed by ministers -- and promised to continue to push for answers over the war. "On the political tombstone of this prime minister will be the word Iraq," said Charles Kennedy, former leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, who opposed the war. Parliament voted 298 to 273 against the motion -- sponsored by small Scottish and Welsh national parties and backed by the opposition Conservatives -- calling on senior lawmakers to review the government's handling of the war. "The issue ... is about accountability. It's about the monumental catastrophe of the Iraq war," Adam Price, of the Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru party, told parliament. Losing the vote would have increased pressure on Blair to reassess his Iraq strategy at a time when politicians and even the head of the army have suggested British troops should come home soon. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett raised the possibility of holding an inquiry once British troops were home. But she said to launch one now would damage the morale of the soldiers and embolden insurgents at a critical time when Iraq's fledgling government needed full support. "It is extremely delicate. We are at what could potentially be a turning point in Iraq," Beckett told parliament. POPULARITY UNDERMINED Blair has led his Labour Party to three successive election victories, but public anger over Iraq and opposition to some of his domestic polices have undermined his popularity. Earlier this year he was forced to say he would step down within 12 months, although he has refused to give a firm date. Across the Atlantic, Bush's Republicans look set for a drubbing in Nov. 7 mid-term elections in which Iraq is a key issue. Blair and Bush are facing a barrage of criticism over the relentless violence in Iraq and the mounting death toll among U.S. and British forces there. Polls show most Britons feel troops should be withdrawn from Iraq sooner rather than later. Blair has said there will be no shift in his strategy of keeping British troops in Iraq until local forces are capable of ensuring security. Britain's army chief, General Richard Dannatt, caused uproar this month when he said the presence of British troops in Iraq was worsening security and they should be withdrawn soon. Blair won parliamentary backing for war in Iraq just before the March 2003 invasion, despite a rebellion by about one in three Labour lawmakers. Britain has already held four inquiries into events linked to the Iraq war. A 2004 report cleared Blair of distorting intelligence assessments on Iraq but exposed faulty work. A second report cleared Blair of blame for the suicide of an Iraq weapons expert. Parliament has held two further probes. (Additional reporting by Tim Castle, Sophie Walker, Adrian Croft, Deborah Haynes, Washington bureau)
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