UK's Blair to stand firm in face of party mutiny

London, May 8: British Prime Minister Tony Blair was set to defy calls today to name a date for his departure as he seeks to quell mounting unrest in his Labour Party that threatens to destabilise the government.

Blair was to hold a regular news conference and later address Labour parliamentarians amid charges by his allies that left-wingers are staging a coup to topple him. One senior party official, who declined to be named, told sources Blair had no intention of fixing a departure date now.

Labour is in turmoil after suffering one of its worst local election defeats since Blair stormed to power in 1997.

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.

An uproar last month over the bungled release of foreign prisoners and a sex scandal involving a top minister have come on top of continuing public anger over the Iraq war, turning 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 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.

Blair has said he will not seek a fourth term and has promised a ''stable and orderly transition''.

There are growing calls, not just from long-standing rebels but also from previously loyal Labour lawmakers and former ministers, for Blair publicly to set a timetable to hand over to finance minister Gordon Brown, his presumed successor.

RESHUFFLE AND RENEWAL

In a BBC poll, exactly half of 104 Labour lawmakers who responded said they wanted 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 Blair and it would take 70 lawmakers to trigger a leadership contest.

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

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.

Blair's allies play down talk of Labour ''civil war'', noting that 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 David Cameron. It scored its best poll results since 1992 last week.

The challenge for 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 Brown, told BBC Radio.

REUTERS