Blair defiant as thousands protest against Iraq war

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair will signal this week that Labour should abandon "urban intellectuals" who deserted it over the Iraq war.

As the party's conference begins in Brighton today he is determined to face down growing pressure for a withdrawal of British troops. He believes Labour will lose if it seeks to win back middle-class voters who protested against the war at the last election and can rely instead on its heartland to remain in power.

Mr Blair's hardline stance comes as a poll released last night showed that a majority of Britons wanted UK troops to pull out. Senior military, diplomatic and intelligence figures added their voices to the protest last night.

More than 10,000 protesters descended on London yesterday for a mass demonstration against the war in Iraq. In the US more than 100,000 protesters flooded Washington to stage dual demonstrations against the US-led war in Iraq and economic globalisation, before coming together to demand that President George W. Bush bring troops home. In Los Angeles, about 15,000 people protested peacefully, while thousands more marched in San Francisco.

The crowds swelled throughout the day, and by late afternoon organisers of the anti-war demonstration said 300,000 people had assembled -- exceeding an anticipated 100,000. Washington police declined to comment on the size of the rally.

The anti-war march circled a wide swath of downtown Washington, including the White House. They walked slowly, and often silently, and carried a blocks-long string of pictures of the 1900 US soldiers who have died in Iraq.In the UK many of the protesters, who marched from Parliament Square to Hyde Park blowing whistles and carrying placards, were demanding the immediate withdrawal of British troops. The demonstration, which was the 12th to be held over the past few years, began outside the Houses of Parliament where protests have been banned under new laws.

Buses were used to bring people from all over Britain to join the demonstration, organised by the Stop the War Coalition.

Scotland Yard estimated that crowds had swollen to 10,000 people by the time the march reached Hyde Park in the early afternoon, although organisers put the numbers at up to 100,000.

The Prime Minister's determination to ignore the issue was made clear yesterday when party managers stifled a proposed debate on Iraq.

Mr Blair will make only a passing reference to the subject in his main conference speech on Tuesday, most of which will be about the importance of improving choice in health and education.

His strategy was made clear by one of his ministers last week who said that "urban intellectuals" accounted for just 4 per cent of the vote.

Liam Byrne singled out Cambridge - lost to the Liberal Democrats on an anti-war vote - as he argued that Labour must stick to economic issues.

"If we win back Cambridge but lose seats such as Crawley, we will be out of power."

The spectre of the conflict loomed over the eve of the gathering, however, as senior military and diplomatic figures added their voices to calls for an exit strategy.

The former top mandarin at the Ministry of Defence, Sir Michael Quinlan, told The Independent on Sunday: "Perhaps we shall soon be - if we are not already - doing more harm by staying as perceived occupiers than by departing."

Meanwhile a YouGov poll for Five News last night showed that 57 per cent of those asked said yes to the question "should British troops pull out of Iraq?" while 27 per cent said no.

Labour's conference managers ruled that there should be no discussion of a resolution backed by two dozen constituency parties, which praised the late Robin Cook's commitment to "a world order governed by rules" - fearing that it would be used as an opening to attack the decision to go to war with Iraq without full UN backing.

Instead of a debate, the conference will hear speeches in praise of Cook and of James Callaghan and Mo Mowlam, who also died this year, led by the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock.

Unrest in the Labour Party is matched by growing disquiet in military, official and intelligence circles at what they regard as an open-ended British commitment in Iraq.

Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Mr Blair's former special envoy in Baghdad, acknowledged that an early withdrawal would be a "considerable defeat" for the coalition, but added that they might have to pull out if there was no "reasonable prospect" of holding the country together.

PROTESTERS TELL THEIR STORIES

Andrew Murray, chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, said people were marching to show their solidarity with Muslims bearing "the brunt of attacks" in Iraq.

He told the crowd: "We cannot say how many are here, but there are certainly tens of thousands from all over the country marching above all to bring the troops home from Iraq and end the bloody disastrous occupation."

The former Labour MP Tony Benn, who also took part in the demonstration, described the war as "unwinnable" and said it had been waged "for oil and power".

"We demand that troops come out of Iraq and that a date is set now," he said.

Peter Brierley, from Batley in West Yorkshire, whose son Shaun, 28, died in Kuwait in 2003, said: "My son was betrayed by Blair. If the Government do not bring them out, there will be more families like us."

For Sue Smith, who lost her son in a roadside explosion in Basra two months ago, the day was highly emotional. She choked back tears as she read out a letter delivered to Downing Street earlier yesterday, begging Tony Blair to withdraw British troops.

"Seven weeks ago we saw our son for the last time in a coffin at the chapel of rest," she said.

"You can never know how it feels, but you have the power to stop it happening again. You made the decision to go to Iraq and you can make the decision to get our sons and daughters out of there."

British soldier Lance Corporal George Solomou, who refused his call-up to serve in Iraq, was near the front of the protest as it made its way to Trafalgar Square and on to Hyde Park.

He said: "I am here to show my solidarity. The British people are realising they have been told more and more lies about this war."

- INDEPENDENT and REUTERS