<snip>
Tony Blair was facing a damaging defeat last night over demands for the early withdrawal of British troops from Iraq after failing to buy off the votes of the four big unions at Labour's annual conference. At a lunchtime meeting at the Brighton conference centre, the Prime Minister pleaded with union leaders not to back a motion calling for the early withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. Mr Blair offered a compromise statement on Iraq by the party's national executive committee to persuade them not to vote for the "troops out" motion on Thursday.
The unions countered by warning the Prime Minister that he would need to set a date for the withdrawal of British forces in his keynote speech today to the conference if they were to move from the policy on Iraq agreed at the TUC annual conference.
Iraq, and the fate of the British hostage Ken Bigley, cast a bleak shadow over the conference. Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, who resigned from the Cabinet over the war, warned Mr Blair at a fringe meeting that he would not be able to draw a line under the war by apologising. He said those demanding an apology would "push him into the pit" once he had done so.
The spectacle of Mr Blair negotiating with the union leaders in "smoke-filled rooms" to head off a defeat on Iraq fuelled the impression of an embattled leader. His authority has been battered by Iraq and a defeat would be highly damaging as he prepares for the general election.
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Link:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=566463Tony... you should a never let Georgie-The-Mooch kiss ya on the cheek man!
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