London – Prime Minister Tony Blair, moving to quell a rising revolt within his Labor Party, said Monday that he would not publicly set a timetable for stepping down because doing so would “paralyze” the government and “therefore damage the country.”
“It would not end this distraction but take it to a new level,” said Blair, the Bush administration’s closest ally in Europe. He was addressing reporters for the first time since a weak showing by Labor in local elections on Thursday and a controversial Cabinet reshuffle on Friday.
Those events, combined with recent scandals involving Cabinet ministers and Blair’s unpopular support for the Iraq war, triggered a groundswell of anger among many Labor Party members of Parliament, who said Blair’s government is stagnant after nine years in office.
It also deepened divisions in the party between people who solidly support Blair and those who want him to transfer power to Chancellor Gordon Brown, his presumed successor. In last week’s Cabinet reshuffle, Blair was widely viewed as promoting his loyalists and purging Brown’s.
Blair has publicly stated that he will not seek a fourth term as prime minister in elections that must be held by mid-2010. He has not said when he will step aside, but Monday he said he would keep his promise to quit early enough to allow a “stable and orderly” transition to his successor.
Noting that it had been only a year since voters gave Labor a third term, he said it would be premature for him to step down. He said he was still focused on reforms in education, health, criminal justice and other areas, which he called more important to the public than political wrangling within the party.
“I suggest everyone calms down and let us get on with the business of governing,” he said.
Blair downplayed reports of a growing rivalry with Brown and said he believed Brown was still loyal to him. He said Brown was “of course” still his choice of successor.
