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Blair justifies Iraq invasion

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON SEPT. 30. For someone facing the toughest test of his leadership since he came to power six years ago, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, today struck a remarkably defiant posture when he addressed the Labour Party's annual conference in Bournemouth, a day after his rival and the "PM-in-waiting'', Gordon Brown, received a standing ovation for distancing himself from the more controversial aspects of Mr. Blair's domestic agenda.

Mr Blair was under enormous pressure to regain the trust of the party's increasingly rebellious rank and file but far from waving the white flag, he ruled out any compromise on policies which have seen his own and the Government's ratings plunge to an unprecedented low in recent months.

He started off by reminding the delegates that he was the first Labour Prime Minister to address a party conference for the seventh consecutive time.

"We have never been here before, never governed so long,'' he said and then asked rhetorically whether they wanted to "give up on it, or get on with it?''

Mr Blair admitted that it was a "testing time'', but made clear that there was no question of rolling back his contentious programme of public services reforms, seen both in and outside the party as a lurch towards privatisation.

He warned that a "retreat'' would be disastrous for the party, and had a dig at his MPs who still behaved as though they were still in Opposition.

Mr Blair justified the invasion of Iraq, shrugging off polls, which show that an overwhelming majority of Britons believe his Government misled them over the threat from Saddam Hussein.

He acknowledged that the issue had "divided'' the party and the country and many believed that the action he had taken was "wrong''. But he said he would take the same decision again, if he were confronted with a similar situation.

There was no hint of contrition as Mr Blair lectured the delegates on the virtues of his policies and the achievements of his Government.

Unlike Mr Brown, who pointedly spoke of "Labour'' values, Mr Blair stuck to the "New'' Labour theme, which a growing number of party activists believe runs against the grain of the organisation's "core'' philosophy.

In his speech on Monday, Mr Brown used the word "Labour'' 63 times and, parodying Mr Blair's remarks that "we are at our best when we are at our boldest'', he said the party was at its best when "we are boldest, when we are united, best when we are Labour''.

Mr Blair retorted today that it was wrong to confuse "values'' with policies, and insisted that he was taking the party and the Government in the right direction. Mr Brown was seen grinning from ear to ear.

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