Blair snubs US Medal to avoid 'poodle' jibes [View All]

[depakid]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has not accepted a US Congressional Gold Medal he was awarded four years ago in part because it would reinforce perceptions that he is US President George W Bush's "poodle", the British ambassador to Washington said on Thursday.

In an interview published in The Times, David Manning said that Blair has "always had inhibitions" about accepting a medal awarded for his address to both houses of Congress soon after the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

"For those who are convinced that the prime minister is ... some sort of poodle, it does not matter what he does," Manning told the daily. "You reach the point where, if he had collected the medal, people would say that proves their point. But it's a much better - a much more complicated relationship - it's a two-way street."

Manning predicted Blair will collect the medal "when he is a private citizen".

More: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/blair-snubs-us-medal-to-avoid-poodle-jibes/2007/04/26/1177459833898.html