Blair challenges his successor, nods to Brown

London, Feb 7: Prime Minister Tony Blair challenged his successor, politicians and the public to decide whether to retain close ties with Washington after he has gone, despite the ''political penalty'' often paid for them.

Blair, who also implicitly backed finance minister Gordon Brown to take over from him later this year, yesterday warned politicians against drifting into anti-Americanism.

Blair's close relationship with US President George W Bush and particularly his backing for the US-led war in Iraq lost him the support of many ruling Labour Party voters.

It also angered Labour lawmakers, contributing to a revolt last year that prompted him to announce he was stepping down.

Blair is expected to hand over to his old rival Brown in July at the latest after a decade in office, while announcing his exit weeks earlier, perhaps soon after May 3 elections for the Scottish parliament, Welsh assembly and local councils.

Blair robustly defended his dealings with Bush.

''I'm the person above all who can give evidence as to the difficulty and sometimes political penalty to pay for a close relationship with the US, but we shouldn't give that up in any set of circumstances,'' he told a parliamentary committee.

Critics accuse Blair of slavishly backing Washington and Labour figures urge a distancing from Bush once Blair has gone.

Outlining a cross-government policy review, Blair implicitly backed Chancellor of the Exchequer Brown to succeed him. He has, to date, refused to explicitly back Brown but the two appear increasingly comfortable with handover plans.

Asked if the future policy review would bind in his successor, he said: ''It's across government. ... Myself and the chancellor are both involved in all the policy groups.'' Blair called on politicians and the public to debate whether they wanted to continue with an ''interventionist'' approach to foreign policy and keep a close bond with the United States and Europe as the ''two pillars'' of Britain's foreign policy.

''Do we want to maintain that and if we do, what is the price we're prepared to pay as a country for maintaining it?'' he asked. ''Is this the right way forward ... or should we take a step back maybe and not be so engaged in these international issues as we have been?'' If Britain wanted to renounce its alliance with Washington, ''Do it consciously. ... Don't drift into it just because there's a sort of general strain in public opinion that moves in that direction,'' he urged.

Brown said recently there was no place for anti-Americanism but has also said he will have a ''frank'' relationship with Washington, always speaking his mind and putting Britain's national interest first.

Reuters