-Caveat Lector- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml? xml=/news/2003/03/09/nirq09.xml/ Blair faces wave of resignations as ministerial aides issue ultimatum By Colin Brown, Francis Elliott and Julian Coman in New York (Filed: 09/03/2003)
Tony Blair will face a wave of government resignations if he commits British troops to a war on Iraq without securing a second United Nations mandate for military action. Five members of the Government, including three aides to Cabinet ministers, have told The Telegraph that they will quit if the Prime Minister opts for war on Saddam Hussein without the support of the Security Council. Britain has already committed itself to military action by March 17 should Saddam fail to disarm and is attempting to secure UN backing for this deadline. However, the aides, all parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs), on the Government's payroll vote, say that they will resign if the Security Council does not back the British position. The five MPs include Anne Campbell, the PPS to Patricia Hewitt, the Trade Secretary; Andy Reed, aide to Margaret Beckett, the Environment Secretary; and Michael Jabez Foster, who works with Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General. A fourth PPS to a Cabinet minister who is also threatening to quit did not wish to be named. Mr Reed said: "If we don't have a second resolution then I would resign. I have already made that clear to the whips." Mr Foster said: "There is a point where you have to decide whether this is right or wrong. This is about upholding the authority of the UN." Ms Campbell said: "I have taken the view that I would find it very difficult to support the Government unless there is a proper UN resolution. If it came to war without that I would have to quit." The fact that members of the Government are prepared to threaten Mr Blair publicly will fuel concerns that senior figures, possibly Cabinet ministers, may also resign in protest. Speculation continues to surround the position of Robin Cook, the Leader of the Commons, who is considered the most likely of any Cabinet member to quit over the issue. The resignation threats follow the unprecedented Commons revolt, in which 121 Labour MPs voted against the Government two weeks ago. If followed through, they would be the most serious blow to Mr Blair's authority since he was elected and could split the Government from top to bottom. They highlight the risk that the Prime Minister is taking in backing President George W. Bush in waging war on Iraq regardless of the outcome of this week's crucial UN Security Council vote in New York. London and Washington have refused to rule out the possibility that war could be launched this week - possibly as early as Wednesday - if they fail to win support for a second resolution. One British minister said: "There is a chance of that. We are going nowhere in New York." In a last-ditch attempt to avoid war, Britain and America will this week offer Saddam a final chance to flee Iraq. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The resolution has been put down but the option is there for Saddam to go into exile. It would mean we would have what we want." Diplomats at the UN confirmed that the US and Britain were seeking to link the resolution setting Saddam the March 17 deadline with a declaration - possibly by the Arab League - calling on the Iraqi leader to avert war by going into exile. Saudi Arabia has led efforts by Arab countries to persuade Saddam and his entourage to accept asylum and exemption from charges of war crimes. Saddam, however, has until now rejected the offers, saying that he would die in Iraq. "A senior Security Council diplomat said: "The idea of a calendar date, rather than just a period of time like seven days, was to raise the pressure to the highest degree on Saddam and concentrate the minds of others who may want to make a final attempt to persuade him into exile." Mr Blair is at Chequers this weekend contacting other leaders in an effort to pull the six wavering Security Council states - Cameroon, Guinea, Angola, Pakistan, Chile and Mexico - behind the resolution by stressing that the crisis could still be resolved peacefully should Saddam decide to surrender his weapons of mass destruction. The revised resolution, tabled by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, after a report by Hans Blix, the UN chief weapons inspector, proposes that if Iraq fails to demonstrate "full, unconditional, immediate and active" co- operation by March 17 it should be deemed to have failed to take the "final opportunity" afforded it by the earlier key resolution 1441 and face military action. Mr Straw said: "We are at a difficult time, but I believe that by the process of argument we should be able to get to a point where we can get a second resolution." Downing Street also indicated that a UN vote could be delayed until later this week, to enable more time to win over the wavering states, in spite of earlier signals by the US administration that it could be held as early as Tuesday. Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister, today sets off for a tour of Angola, Cameroon and Guinea as France, Russia and Germany attempt to muster the nine security council votes needed to defeat the US and Britain in the ballot. He said: "Behind this presentation there is the idea of an ultimatum, March 17: this is the logic of war. We don't accept this logic, because the inspectors are saying that they have active co-operation on the part of Iraq." Dr Blix is due to give a further report next Friday, but the Prime Minister's spokesman hinted that it was likely to be cancelled by the UN. "We are entering the end game now," he said. There were unconfirmed reports that a contractor had been ordered by US forces to cut 25 gaps in the security fence between Iraq and Kuwait to allow American and British forces to invade. 8 March 2003: March 17: deadline for war 8 March 2003: Washington and London fail to woo waverers 7 March 2003: No meeting of minds as Blair is interviewed by international youth 28 February 2003: Public loses faith in Blair and New Labour 27 February 2003: Blair rocked by biggest revolt over war on Iraq 25 February 2003: Cook seeks to head off Labour MPs' revolt Related reports Leader: So shall ye reap Matthew d'Ancona: Blair stands eyeball to eyeball with his party Blair needs his country External links UN Security Council News - United Nations Latest news - 10 Downing St The Cabinet - 10 Downing St Iraq - Foreign and Comonwealth Office Press briefing by Ari Fleischer [7 Mar '03] - The White House Stop the War Coalition © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003. Forwarded for your information. 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