Once-Popular Blair Struggles for Support

British Prime Minister Tony Blair struggled against political troubles at home and overseas Tuesday, appealing for unity in the U.N. dispute over Iraq while antiwar rumbles grew louder among Britons and in his Labor Party.

Blair warned that Russia and France have played into the hands of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by threatening to veto a proposed Security Council resolution authorizing war on Iraq.

“My concern is if countries talk about using a veto in all sets of circumstances, the message that sends to Saddam is: ‘You’re off the hook,’ ” Blair said after meeting with Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso of Portugal, an ally in the Iraq crisis. “I hope we won’t talk about vetoes, but rather we will try and find common ground that allows a way through.”

Blair said he was working “flat out” on a deal that would salvage the proposed Security Council resolution, which he desperately needs to justify a war to the British public.

Recent days have brought steady bad news for Blair, whose once formidable popularity has dived when he needs it the most. He withstood a chilly reception Monday during a televised discussion with 20 female activists who oppose war. His international development minister, Clare Short, and about half a dozen ministerial aides have threatened to resign if war comes about without a resolution. The prime minister’s failure to retaliate by dumping Short has been interpreted as a sign of weakness.

As Blair tries to bridge the gap between Europe and the United States, the horizon has turned darker at home. A new poll showed that only 19% of Britons back military action without U.N. approval. Blair’s alliance with the Bush administration has also worsened his estrangement from leftist “Old Labor” forces, a rift that predates the Iraq crisis. Union leaders told him they oppose a unilateral invasion of Iraq.

“Our position is clear: We want to go through the United Nations, and that’s what the prime minister is trying to do,” Brendan Barber, general secretary-elect of the Trade Union Congress, said after meeting with Blair.

Commentators estimate that a breakdown at the U.N. could incite a rebellion of as many as 200 Labor legislators, up from the 122 who defied Blair in a vote against his Iraq policy last month. The unhappiness in the restive Labor Party has gathered enough momentum that a few legislators suggested that Blair consider resigning.

In Parliament on Tuesday, rebels challenged Blair to change course.

“He should use his great leadership skills to persuade George Bush that to go ahead with war now might advance the hegemony of the United States, might advance a new world order where military America tries to dominate a world run for it and a small coterie of allies, but in so doing will actually make the problems of terrorism worse,” said Hilton Dawson, a member of Parliament.

If Blair insists on going forward without the U.N., Dawson said, the prime minister should “consider his position.” That euphemism for resignation was echoed by Tam Dalyell, a veteran Labor member of Parliament and vocal antiwar campaigner.

“As soon as it becomes clear that the U.N. is disregarded ... a letter will go out to our colleagues asking for a special conference of the Labor Party,” Dalyell said. He predicted that dissident Laborites will “put forward a resolution that if there is no U.N. mandate and if there is not a vote in the [House of] Commons before the commitment of British troops, then we ask the prime minister to consider his position as leader of the party.”

The sniping does not endanger Blair’s job, especially because the conservative opposition is his most ardent ally on Iraq. But the approaching showdown at the U.N. could very well decide his future.

Blair “is in a very tricky position,” said George Jones, a professor of government at the London School of Economics. If the Iraq crisis turns out successfully, Jones said, “he would be one of Britain’s greatest national leaders. If things go wrong, I think he will resign.”

But Blair retains the allegiance of the rank and file, Labor Party chairman John Reid insisted Tuesday.

“Stories about bonfires of party cards being ripped up are a lie,” he said.

*

Stobart reported from London and Rotella from Paris.