Cabinet allies back Blair after terror humiliation

CABINET heavyweights rallied behind Tony Blair last night in the wake of the Commons battering that left a question mark over the Prime Minister’s authority. An orchestrated show of support led by Gordon Brown in Israel was designed to fend off critics who claim Mr Blair is increasingly isolated from his own party.

Mr Brown tried to throw a protective arm around his rival by refusing to discuss a handover of power and offering his ‘full support’. Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he accepted personal responsibility for failing to persuade MPs to support police calls to be allowed to hold terror suspects for 90 days without charging them.

Defence Secretary John Reid denied that the vote, which saw 49 Labour MPs line up against the Government, had undermined Mr Blair’s authority.

The Premier himself issued an uncompromising message to the cross- party coalition of MPs who inflicted his first Commons defeat since taking office.

He risked antagonising Labour rebels further by accusing them of being out of touch with reality and the public’s desire to see tough action against suspected terrorists.

Downing Street tried to put a brave face on Wednesday’s devastating reverse, which saw Mr Blair lose the key anti-terworrying ror proposal by 31 votes. But the Prime Minister was left struggling as the full impact sank in around Westminster.

Tory leader Michael Howard repeated his call for Mr Blair to quit, arguing that his authority was spent. And rebels warned that if Mr Blair wants to get his manifesto through, he will have to be ready to compromise on controversial proposals for schools, hospitals and social security.

The defeat even prompted Sir Christopher Meyer, John Major’s former press secretary, to claim that Mr Blair’s administration was beginning to resemble the final days of the last Tory government.

‘ There is a smell about things which reminds me of the last years of John Major,’ said Sir Christopher, who later became Ambassador to Washington and whose memoirs, serialised in the Daily Mail this week, have been highly critical of Mr Blair.

At the weekly Cabinet meeting the Prime Minister told his colleagues there was a ‘worrying gap’ between MPs who voted against the 90- day proposal and the reality of the terrorist threat.

His spokesman said afterwards that the public backed Mr Blair. He said: ‘ They understand the nature of the reality of the terrorist threat. They understand the need to give the police the ability to tackle the complex issues involved.

‘ As the Prime Minister said in Cabinet, there does seem to be a gap between parts of Parliament and public opinion.’

So far there has been only a single Internet-based television poll on public attitudes. The YouGov survey for Sky News found that 72 per cent of people supported extending the limit from its current 14 days to 90, with only 22 per cent against.

Soon after Mr Blair’s defeat, the Commons voted to extend the period to 28 days.

Mr Clarke claimed he had ‘ got the judgment wrong’ on Commons tactics, but could not escape persistent claims that he had been ready to compromise, only to be overruled by Mr Blair.

Mr Clarke insisted the Premier was not a ‘ private dictator’ and denied that the defeat had had an impact on his authority.

He lashed out at Labour rebels, branding them ‘ne’er do wells’ and ‘serial rebels’ who were ‘ hell-bent’ on trying to defeat the Government. ‘You do have a group of people utterly determined to punch Tony Blair on the nose,’ he said. He even accused rebel ringleader Bob Marshall-Andrews of working with the Tories to ‘actively conspire to arrange votes where that can happen’. Mr Reid also rejected the suggestion that Mr Blair had been diminished. He insisted: ‘ If anything, his authority has been enhanced. When you look at the position he took, and the position other would- be leaders took, I have no doubt his stature has been enhanced.’

Mr Brown, speaking in Tel Aviv after resuming the trip he had to interrupt when he was called back to London for the vote, said: ‘We must not lose sight of the big challenges facing the country – economic, social and security.’

He added: ‘Tony Blair has my full support.’

But former Health Secretary Frank Dobson, one of the rebels, said ‘ quite a number of people’ who supported Mr Blair on Wednesday had said there was no question of them backing his reform plans on schools and health.

He quoted from Shakespeare’s Cymbeline to express the new mood on Labour’s backbenches – ‘ Fear no more the frown o’ the great; Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke.’

Labour MP Paul Farrelly, who supported the Government, warned there would ‘ be hell to pay’ if Mr Blair used the same leadership style on health and education.

Michael Howard said in a statement: ‘ Mr Blair cannot carry his own party on a matter of fundamental importance to the country.

‘It is an unhealthy situation and it would be best for the future of the country if he were to step aside.

‘It is bad for the country to have a Prime Minister who has lost all authority.’

b.brogan@dailymail.co.uk