Blair Faces Looming Labour Party Revolt on Iraqi War

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 13, 2003

Blair Faces Looming Labour Party Revolt on Iraqi War

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British Prime Minister Tony Blair would be forced to launch a campaign to avoid a growing revolt among Labour Party members who opposed his military strategy on Iraq, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

According to the report, about 100 members of parliament withinBlair's own Labour Party were skeptical of his handling of the crisis over Iraq.

"There is a danger of getting into a conflict without the support of the country or parliament," the Sunday Times quoted Clive Soley, former Parliamentary Labour party chairman, as saying.

Soley warned that the government might face the same fate of then Prime Minister Anthony Eden, who lost the premiership after leading Britain into a war without public support during the 1956 Suez crisis.

A recent Sunday Telegraph survey of Labour party constituency chairmen showed that thousands of party members would resign if Britain went to war without a second UN resolution authorizing force against Iraq.

The survey also found that 89 percent of the 74 chairmen interviewed opposed a war without further UN approval.

Britain, the staunchest ally for the United States' tough line on Iraq, has vowed to join any international coalition to confrontIraq.

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