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Blair to step down on June 27

Hasan Suroor

I did what I thought was right for our country

— PHOTO: AFP

COUNTDOWN BEGINS: British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie leave Sedgefield on Thursday after the Premier announced his decision to step down.

LONDON: The longest goodbye in Britain's political history moved closer to a denouement on Thursday when Tony Blair announced that he would step down as Prime Minister on June 27 saying that sometimes the only way to "conquer the pull of power is to set it down''. Mr. Blair would submit his resignation to the Queen on June 27 after attending probably his last Question Hour in the Commons as Prime Minister, but he would stay on in Downing Street until his successor — almost certain to be Chancellor Gordon Brown — is formally elected.

Mr. Blair, who became the longest serving Labour Prime Minister when he completed 10 years in office on May 1, made the heavily-trailed announcement in a brief and emotional speech to Labour activists in his parliamentary constituency of Sedgfield.

"I have come back here, to Sedgefield, to my constituency, where my political journey began and where it is fitting it should end,'' he told a gathering of 250-odd Labour loyalists who had packed into the tiny Trimdon Labour Club which also doubles up as a pub and has been a traditional venue for Mr. Blair's meetings with his supporters.

Outside, a little away from the cheering crowd, police struggled with a group of anti-war protesters some of whom wore orange boiler suits in solidarity with the Guantanamo Bay detenus. Mr. Blair simply avoided looking in their direction as he rushed out of the door after making the announcement, only stopping to give a thumbs-up to party activists clamouring for a handshake or a hug.

Conciliatory tone

In a speech whose conciliatory tone was in sharp contrast to his more familiar aggressive rhetoric, Mr. Blair admitted that sometime he made decisions which proved unpopular and deeply controversial. He apologised for the "times I have fallen short'' of people's expectations.

On Iraq, which irreparably damaged his premiership, Mr. Blair acknowledged that his decision to support the U.S.-led invasion had been "bitterly controversial'' but insisted that he believed it was the right thing to do.

Mr. Blair spent much of his speech defending his record in office, insisting that all he ever did was placing Britain's national interest first.

And in doing so, which involved difficult decisions, he may have got it wrong sometime. Amid cheers, he told the audience: "I ask you to accept one thing. Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right. I may have been wrong. That's your call. But believe one thing if nothing else. I did what I thought was right for our country.''

Mr. Blair claimed that no post-war British Government had done so much for the country as his Government had done. Addressing his critics, he said decision-making was "hard'' and sometimes "you are left alone with your own instinct.'' Deputy Premier John Prescott also announced his decision to stand down as the party's deputy leader along with Mr. Blair.

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