Minister Tony Blair

This is an excerpt of an editorial that was published by the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph yesterday:THREE weeks after the onset of war against Serbia, the prime minister has at last deigned to explain the government's bellicose policy to the House of Commons. It was a perfunctory performance, one that restated the moral purpose of military action in the Balkans but failed to offer evidence that the campaign is achieving worthwhile results.Pointing fingersAs the leader of a supporting power, Prime Minister Tony Blair is in the difficult position of defending a policy that he does not control.

LONDON -- Gordon Brown launched his drive to become Britain's next prime minister yesterday, conceding that "mistakes have been made" in the war in Iraq and predicting that "the emphasis will shift" over the next several months. Brown's opening speech was designed to draw a line between himself and Prime Minister Tony Blair, his closest political ally but also his deepest rival. The treasury secretary sought to bask in their joint achievements at the head of the decade-old Labor government.

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair gave his most explicit apology to date yesterday for the flawed intelligence assessments upon which he took Britain to war in Iraq, but he rejected opposition accusations that he had misrepresented that intelligence. "I take full responsibility and apologize for any information given in good faith that has subsequently turned out to be wrong," Blair told the House of Commons during a spirited exchange with opposition members. "What I do not in any way accept is that there was a deception of anyone," Blair said.

London -- Prime Minister Tony Blair, who upended the old politics of liberalism and conservatism in Britain and pushed for an "ethical" foreign policy, said yesterday that he will step down June 27 after more than a decade in power. Blair, 54, one of Britain's longest-serving prime ministers, resurrected the Labor Party from the electoral backwaters in 1997 on a wave of national optimism, only to see it founder over an unpopular war in Iraq. His successor almost certainly will be Gordon Brown, the introverted, intellectual chancellor of the exchequer who worked side by side with him to create the doctrine of New Labor but fell out with Blair in recent years over when he would be allowed to have his own day in the sun as prime minister.

LONDON -- David Blunkett, a senior Cabinet minister who has become a lightning rod for scandal and bad publicity, has been forced to resign for the second time in less than a year. After weeks of mounting pressure over some questionable business dealings, Blunkett admitted yesterday that he had violated ministerial ethics guidelines. He submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Tony Blair. "I am guilty of a mistake and I am paying the price of it," he told reporters. He said he was "deeply sorry" for embarrassing Blair, who remained a staunch backer to the very end. "He goes in my view with no stain of impropriety against him whatsoever," Blair declared.

PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR of Britain was such a Clinton wannabe in swinging his leftish Labor Party to the center and adopting his opponent's planks and personifying youthful vigor that his supporters joked about it.Then the ever-grinning Mr. Blair won the election in May, emerging as undisputed master of British politics, not merely prime minister but commanding a huge parliamentary majority. Meanwhile, his model in Washington faces a Republican Congress and cannot expect many of his proposals to be enacted.

PRIME MINISTER Tony Blair, who with wife Cherie visits Camp David today for an overnight stay, never met George W. Bush. They talked on the phone twice. No personal chemistry there. Doesn't matter. They need each other. Both know it. It is right and proper that they start work on their chemistry while the thaw comes to the snowy Catoctin hills. Mr. Blair, who led the Labor Party to unaccustomed victory preaching the third way of centrism in politics, is known to detractors as Clinton Lite.

LONDON - A House of Commons committee cleared the government yesterday of charges that it doctored evidence of Iraqi weapons, but the panel criticized its handling of intelligence findings, saying it resulted in Prime Minister Tony Blair's unknowingly misinforming Parliament. The committee on foreign affairs said that while there was no proof of "politically inspired meddling," a government dossier published in September was written in language that was "more assertive than that traditionally used in intelligence documents."

LONDON - Senior officials in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government say privately that they no longer think unconventional weapons will be uncovered in Iraq, British news organizations reported yesterday. Correspondents from the BBC and Reuters who cover 10 Downing St. said unidentified officials were putting forward the argument that the weapons existed but were dismantled or hidden before allied troops entered Iraq in March. Neither account said whether the officials think the weapons might have been hidden in Iraq or spirited abroad.

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair's hold on office was dealt a strong blow yesterday when eight former loyalists quit the government in a bid to speed his departure. The political crisis engulfing one of the Bush administration's staunchest allies follows months of unease within the Labor Party as support has dwindled over issues such as immigration, health care and the cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Less than 15 months since his party sailed to a historic third consecutive general election victory, Blair is seen by many of his allies as a liability, and opposition leader David Cameron has said that Labor is "in meltdown."

LONDON -- Gordon Brown, Britain's chancellor of the Exchequer, made a bid yesterday for the post of prime minister during a speech at the annual Labor Party conference in the northern industrial city of Manchester. Brown, whose ambitions for the office have been at the heart of his party's divisions over the tenure of Prime Minister Tony Blair, told a packed audience of party devotees that he would "relish the opportunity to take on" the opposition Tory party. Laying out a centrist agenda notably similar to that of the incumbent, Brown gave fulsome praise to Blair's premiership.

LONDON -- Fighting to prolong his political life and preserve his legacy in the face of an escalating revolt within his party, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced yesterday that he would resign within a year. But Blair refused to set a specific timetable for his departure. And his assurance that this month's annual Labor Party conference would be his last as the party's leader might not be enough to quell the mutiny. He will likely go down as one of Britain's most successful politicians, but his approval rating plummeted when he aligned Britain with the United States against Iraq and sent British troops to fight in an unpopular war. His loyalty to President Bush has been viewed with distaste by many Britons.

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair's hold on office was dealt a strong blow yesterday when eight former loyalists quit the government in a bid to speed his departure. The political crisis engulfing one of the Bush administration's staunchest allies follows months of unease within the Labor Party as support has dwindled over issues such as immigration, health care and the cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Less than 15 months since his party sailed to a historic third consecutive general election victory, Blair is seen by many of his allies as a liability, and opposition leader David Cameron has said that Labor is "in meltdown."

WASHINGTON -- President Bush acknowledged mistakes and missteps in Iraq last night, including his own "tough talk" and the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, during a joint appearance with British Prime Minister Tony Blair designed to tout progress in a war that has dragged down both leaders' popularity. Both men declined to give a timetable for a troop withdrawal. But during a White House news conference, they called the seating of a new government in Baghdad a fresh chance to plot strategy for pulling back from the fight and shifting responsibility to the Iraqis.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush hailed the new Iraqi government as a pivotal achievement yesterday, both expressing optimism that it would hasten an end to the conflict that has harmed their domestic popularity but stopping short of tying it to a timetable for drawing down troops. Blair, in a surprise visit to Baghdad, said the formation of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government was "a new beginning," while Bush, speaking in Chicago, called it "a turning point" for Iraq.

LONDON -- Reeling from his party's poor showing in local elections, British Prime Minister Tony Blair fired several senior ministers from his Cabinet yesterday in a sweeping reshuffle intended to reassert his authority and silence party members who want him to quit. But his most powerful colleague, rival and heir-apparent - Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer - distanced himself from the reshuffle, saying he had not been consulted. Brown also described the voting results as "a warning shot" that showed the Labor Party needed to be "renewed."

LONDON -- Gordon Brown launched his drive to become Britain's next prime minister yesterday, conceding that "mistakes have been made" in the war in Iraq and predicting that "the emphasis will shift" over the next several months. Brown's opening speech was designed to draw a line between himself and Prime Minister Tony Blair, his closest political ally but also his deepest rival. The treasury secretary sought to bask in their joint achievements at the head of the decade-old Labor government.

LONDON - Shaken by the resignations of three government ministers, Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged his political future yesterday on Britain's joining the United States in forcibly disarming Saddam Hussein and survived a rebellion by members of his Labor Party. "Tell our allies that at the very moment of action, at the very moment when they need our determination, that Britain faltered?" he asked the House of Commons, his voice rising and his finger stabbing at the air at the beginning of a daylong debate.

LONDON -- A militant fathers' rights group said yesterday that it was ending its activities after a report that some former members had considered abducting Prime Minister Tony Blair's youngest son to draw attention to their cause. Matt O'Connor, founder of the group Fathers 4 Justice said that some radical former followers had become a "dark underbelly" that made it necessary to disband the three-year-old group that had fought for changes in Britain's family laws. He made the announcement after a report yesterday in the Sun newspaper revealed an alleged plot by "lunatic fringe" elements to seize Leo Blair, 5, for a short time.

LONDON -- British lawmakers rejected a tough new policy for detaining terrorism suspects yesterday, the first major parliamentary defeat suffered by Prime Minister Tony Blair during his eight years in power. Blair, after the deadly July 7 bombings in the London transit system, had called for terror suspects to be held without charge for up to 90 days - and had rejected any compromise. The House of Commons voted instead to double the detention period from 14 to 28 days, a rebuff that observers said raises questions about how long Blair might be able to hold onto power.