No hurry for leaving post: Blair

London, May 8 (UNI) Tony Blair has tried to put an end to the ''weekend's wranglings'' by refusing to give a timetable for his departure as prime minister, saying it would ''paralyse the proper working of government''.

Despite recent headlines, Mr Blair said his governmentfaced a busy agenda on issues such as pensions, energy supply, improving the NHS and schools, the environment, and modernising''crime fighting'' policies.

Mr Blair said he had no intention of ''going on and on'' and wanted a stable transition which would give his successor time to establish themselves.

''To set a timetable now would simply paralyse the proper working of government, put at risk the necessary changes we are making for Britain and damage the country. It wouldn't end this distraction, but it would take it to a new level,'' he warned and pointed out it was only a year since the general election, and he had pledged to serve a full term before stepping down.

He promised to ''fight all the way'' those who wanted to reverse New Labour.

A reuters report said last Thursday's poll followed weeks of damaging headlines of government incompetence and sleaze, adding to a sense of malaise that has been growing since Labour's parliamentary majority was slashed when it won a third term in a 2005 national election.

Uproar last month over the bungled release of foreign prisoners and a sex scandal involving his deputy have come on top of continuing public anger over the Iraq war, turning Mr Blair into an electoral liability, critics say.

''This is nothing to do with coups or plots. It's about people in Labour saying they need to have some say in what happens to the party,'' said Mr Neal Lawson, of the left-leaning Labour pressure group Compass, accused of fuelling the mutiny.

''To say 'Shut up. I'm going on as long as I want to' is just not acceptable to an increasing number of people in the party,'' he told Reuters.

RESHUFFLE AND RENEWAL In a BBC poll, exactly half of 104 Labour lawmakers who responded said they wanted Mr Blair to go within a year and a draft letter is circulating calling on him to name a departure day.

As yet, no Labour figure is prepared to stand against Mr Blair and it would take 70 lawmakers to trigger a leadership contest.

In response to the election drubbing, Mr Brown called for Labour ''renewal'' and said he would work together with Blair.

Prime Minister Blair's response to the vote was a ruthless government reshuffle that signalled his intention to stay on and drive through controversial reforms in health and education.

He axed two senior ministers and promoted some loyal backers to top posts. Several Brown supporters won modest promotions.

His allies play down talk of Labour ''civil war'', noting that Mr Blair has faced down successive crises.

They say naming a date would play into the hands of a resurgent opposition Conservative Party under new leader Mr David Cameron. It scored its best poll results since 1992 last week.

The challenge for Mr Blair is to take the media focus off the leadership issue and back on to his government's plans but some in Labour say the party will not find its way until he goes.

''I believe we do need the timetable for the transition of leadership sooner rather than later, because the present uncertainty, I fear, can only get worse, and that in itself is a recipe for drift and disunity,'' Andrew Smith, a former pensions minister who is known to be close to Mr Brown, told BBC Radio.

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