Ministers ready to resign with Blair
26/04/2003 11:52  - (SA)  

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London - Prime Minister Tony Blair's most senior colleagues were prepared to quit if the tense run up to the Iraq war had cost him the premiership, according to a report published on Saturday.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was quoted by The Guardian as saying he would have resigned alongside Blair, if the government had lost a crucial Parliamentary vote on the conflict.

Home Secretary David Blunkett was also quoted as saying key Cabinet ministers would "go down with him."

The report follows an interview last week in The Sun tabloid, in which Blair acknowledged he would have stepped down, if a majority of lawmakers from his governing Labour Party had opposed his decision to join the US-led war.

"Everyone believed, in the run up to that vote, that Tony had put his premiership on the line and those who are very close to him would go down with him. I thought it would hit the government as a whole," Blunkett was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

"The projected voting figures were very serious," Straw was quoted as saying. "I knew there would be a point at which Tony would resign and I would resign as well."

Blair faced the biggest revolt of his career in the House of Commons over his ardent support of US President George W Bush and his tough stance against Saddam Hussein's regime.

Last month, 138 Labour lawmakers voted against the government and declared that it had not made a case for military action against Iraq.

It was the biggest show of dissent since Blair came to power in 1997 and raised questions about his long-term future as leader of the party.

Senior Cabinet minister Robin Cook and two junior ministers resigned in protest. But the rebellion was not as serious as some had predicted, and the prime minister retained the backing of two-thirds of his lawmakers and won support for a war by a comfortable margin.

Despite significant public opposition in the run-up to the war, the swift military campaign and fall of Baghdad has seen public opinion shift back in Blair's favour. - Sapa-AP

- SAPA

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