UK Times Online Black day for Blair as party revolts


Mr Blair avoided a defeat over Iraq only by staging a tactical retreat. The leadership withdrew its own statement on Iraq as unions threatened to defeat it because they felt it failed to tie Britain and America sufficiently to the United Nations. Even so, he was almost embarrassed when 40 per cent of the conference voted for an anti-war motion.

The one eventually passed with the backing of the leadership explicitly linked any military assault to the UN. A rebel motion rejecting military action under any circumstances received a surprisingly large vote.