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'End of Blair-era'
04/02/2007 14:36 - (SA)
London - The era of Tony Blair is coming to an end and British politics needs to move on, one of the British prime minister's Labour Party colleagues said in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday.
"There is only a finite amount of time you can stay like this," John Cruddas told BBC television, referring to the mounting pressure on Blair over a police probe into alleged party political funding corruption.
Left-winger Cruddas, who is standing for the Labour deputy leadership, praised Blair's "extraordinary ability" and endurance for staying the course over nearly 10 years in office.
But he said the magic of Blair's early years had gone and been replaced by "a sort of resilient durability". Critics have said Blair is seeing his authority ebb away.
"The stuff he takes is extraordinary. But the page has turned. It's time to move on", Cruddas added.
An aide to Cruddas said he was not calling for the prime minister to resign immediately but use the time profitably between now and September, by when Blair has promised to leave office.
Blair on Saturday sought to rally Labour members after a torrid week in which it emerged he had been questioned for a second time as a witness to the police inquiry although the news was kept quiet for six days.
The same week saw his Middle East envoy and Labour's chief fundraiser, Lord Michael Levy, arrested and questioned for a second time, although this time on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
The development prompted the British media to speculate that there may have been a cover-up amid talk of deleted e-mails and a second computer system at Blair's Downing Street office.
David Cameron, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, led calls for Blair to go sooner rather than later, accusing his government of being "dysfunctional" and "paralysed" by current events.
Scotland Yard's investigation is looking into whether Labour and other political parties offered seats in Britain's unelected upper chamber of parliament the House of Lords in return for financial contributions.
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