Rebel vote stuns Blair

[Mrs Fish]

Tony Blair's Iraqi war strategy was shaken to the core last night when 121 Labour backbenchers defied a three-line whip to join a cross-party revolt and tell the prime minister that the the case for military action against Saddam Hussein is not yet made.

The vote, which came at the end of an impassioned and impressive six-hour debate in the House of Commons, dramatically reshapes the debate for the three crucial weeks ahead.

The scale of the revolt, the biggest within a governing party for more than a century, saw Mr Blair's plea for endorsement of his pro-UN approach to disarming the Iraqi regime rejected in favour of a "not yet" amendment by 198 rebels, including 121 Labour MPs, 52 Liberal Democrats, 13 Conservatives and 12 nationalists. The vote against the amendment was 393, with Iain Duncan Smith leading most Tory MPs into the Blairite lobby.

Jubilant rebels rubbed home their point when the bland main motion backing Mr Blair's position was carried by 434 to 124. Fifty-nine Labour MPs voted against.

The rebellion spread far beyond the hard core of 30 to 40 leftwing MPs who have consistently opposed western military interventions. It easily surpassed the 67 who rebelled against disability cuts in May 1999, and the 47-strong revolt over lone parents' benefit in December 1997.

Full story here
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,903844,00.html

---

I think he should get his coat

[robkola]

They certainly got his goat!

[CarZee]

Much as I hate to say this, if Blair goes, there's no hope at all that Labia will be voted out at the next election.. and worse stil, rather than a right-wing PM, we'd have fatty Brown and his redistribution fever unleashed as the main man...

But if Blair stays and manages to annoy enough of the country and parliament, then at least next election his commons majority stands to be slashed.

Unless, of course, the cerebral goldfish that are the electorate have by then fogotten all about all these things.

[Bonce]

The Rebel Alliance are fighting Daft Blairdor.

[gnomesmith]

Mr Blair's position was carried by 434 to 124.

And that's a defeat, as I've often been known to say funny old world isn't it.

[kevinday]

By my reckoning there were two votes, one on the main issue and one on the amendment, one carried one did not.

[swilly]

I'm pretty sure that if Blair went you would see a collapse of the Labia party similar to that in the Tories in the years following Maggie's fall.

Blair is the only realistic PM labour have. Brown is just a big buffoon with a big chip on his shoulder and a giant ego balanced on the other.

[elanturbo]

Quite so Carzee,..
There's just the problem of the lack of a credible opposition. This IDS/Portillo thing just runs and runs.

[gnomesmith]

swilly said: Brown is just a big buffoon with a big chip on his shoulder and a giant ego balanced on the other.

Ego and chips, one of my favorite mealos. Brown sauce anybody?

[mr_tony]

Interesting, but not particularly significant.
Once the UN _has_ a position on Iraq (i.e. the american 'new' resolution) my prediction is that a lot of the waverers will almost certainly tag along with the UN / Government line.

As for IDS, the man is not waving but drowning IMHO.

[Fatboy]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
swilly said: Brown is just a big buffoon with a big chip on his shoulder and a giant ego balanced on the other.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Ego and chips, one of my favorite mealos. Brown sauce anybody?

Yes PLease