Wednesday, Apr 27, 2005
Wednesday, Apr 27, 2005 |
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Hasan Suroor
LONDON: With only a week to go for polling in Britain's general election, the Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday suffered another embarrassment when an outgoing senior Labour MP defected to the Liberal Democrats protesting against what he called Mr. Blair's "stomach-churning lies'' over Iraq. Brian Sedgemore, who had been a Labour MP for 27 years, said "enough was enough'' and urged voters to give Mr. Blair "a bloody nose'' for leading the country into an "illegal war''. "Tony Blair's lies over the war on Iraq war, and his careless destruction of liberty [through anti-terrorism measures] have left me disgusted with the party I joined in 1968,'' Mr. Sedgemore said claiming that more desertions from the party were expected after the election. Mr. Sedgemore's decision came days after a Labour Party campaign official in Mr. Blair's own parliamentary constituency switched support to an independent candidate contesting on an anti-war platform. On Monday, a voter in a Labour seat in Bristol refused to shake Mr. Blair's hand telling him on his face: "I will not shake the hand of a killer.'' Mr. Blair sought to play down Mr. Sedgemore's defection saying voters were not likely to be interested in "someone they have never heard of, who's not even standing as a candidate at the general election.'' The Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, was more sarcastic asking: "Whoever heard of Brian before?'' Symbolic value Though the development was not likely to affect the elections directly, its symbolic value was said to be significant at a time when Iraq suddenly crept back into the election campaign. One senior Labour MP, Bob Marshall-Andrews, said Mr. Sedgemore represented a "significant raft of Labour voters who have developed a very strong aversion to the prime minister.'' Meanwhile, many Labour MPs, fearing a backlash over Iraq, have issued statements publicly dissociating themselves from Mr. Blair's policy on the issue. But Mr. Blair warned Labour supporters that they could end up letting Conservatives in through the backdoor if they did not vote for the party because of their anger over Iraq.
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