Blair soldiers on in face of party unrest

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair today rejected calls from within his party to name a date for his departure but promised to give his successor ample time to settle in before the next election.

Trying to quash unrest in the ruling Labour Party over when he will stand down, Blair promised a smooth transition and backed finance minister Gordon Brown as his chosen successor.

Blair was forced to speak out after dismal local election results and damaging headlines of government incompetence and sleaze sparked calls from long-standing Labour rebels and previously loyal lawmakers for him to clarify the handover.

His message cheered some lawmakers but others demanded evidence that Blair and Brown were working together to win the next national election, due by 2010, while a hardcore of Labour rebels continued to press him to go sooner, not later.

"To state a timetable now would simply paralyse the proper working of government, put at risk the necessary changes we are making for Britain and therefore damage the country," Blair, in power since 1997, told a regular monthly news conference.

He said he would leave the "time necessary" for his successor to establish himself.

Blair has said he will not seek reelection but appointed new faces to head key ministries on Friday in a reshuffle that signalled his intention to stay on for the immediate future.

Later on Monday, Blair told a private meeting of Labour lawmakers his legacy to the party would be "a fourth term", aides said.

The party is in turmoil after one of its worst defeats under Blair in local council polls last Thursday.

The elections followed news of a sex scandal involving Blair's deputy and an admission that more than 1000 foreign criminals had been released from jail without proper checks.

That all added to a malaise that has been growing since Labour's parliamentary majority was slashed in 2005, partly due to anger over the Iraq war.

Labour parliamentarian Geraldine Smith said she still wanted Blair and Brown to prove by their actions they were united.

Relations between the two most powerful men in British politics have been tense for years.

"This is hugely distracting and damaging. I don't think people like to see the Labour Party infighting or the government unstable at the top," Smith told Reuters.

Fellow Labour lawmaker John Grogan said Blair had promised "ample time" for his successor to settle in. "It would be disastrous if there isn't evidence (of unity)," he added.

Determined to get the focus back on policy, Blair said he would set out proposals on pension reform this month and publish a review on the viability of expanding nuclear energy later in the year, while pressing ahead with hospital and school reforms.

Brown has called for Labour "renewal" and said he will work together with Blair but critics say the reshuffle showed no sign of the promised "orderly and stable transition" to Brown.

Some Labour lawmakers want Brown to take the reins soon, fearful of a resurgent opposition Conservative Party, which under new leader David Cameron scored its best poll results since 1992 last week.

But Labour is aware disunity could cost them the election. It would take 70 lawmakers to trigger a leadership contest and there is no sign of anyone willing to stand against Blair.

- REUTERS