Blair approval plummets: wheels coming off

"Few adults in Britain express satisfaction with the administration headed by Tony Blair, according to a poll by YouGov published in the Daily Telegraph. 30 per cent of respondents approve of the government’s record to date, down three points since October.

In May, British voters renewed the House of Commons. The governing Labour party secured 356 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 197 and the Liberal Democrats with 62. Blair has served as Britain’s prime minister since 1997.

On Nov. 9, the Labour government’s anti-terrorism bill was defeated in the House of Commons after a 322-291 vote. A revised version of the legislation—which allows for a 28-day detention period for suspected terrorists instead of the 90-day period Blair sought—was introduced and passed immediately following the conclusion of the first vote.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson—who in July 2003 wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that severely criticized the Bush administration for its claim that Saddam Hussein’s regime had sought to purchase uranium from Niger—said the White House "hyped the nuclear case" in order to gain Blair’s support before the war in Iraq. Wilson added, "(Blair) was double-crossed by the regime change crowd in Washington."

64 per cent of respondents believe the "wheels are starting to fall off" Blair’s government." ^{Angus Reid Consultants via Prison Planet}