The Poodle

Blair To Labour - You can't survive without me!

Blair under fire over exit plans

Blair risks party's wrath by refusing to reveal his exit strategy

Blair: I want another 12 months

PM will quit by summer next year but rules out announcement at conference

Tony Blair said yesterday he would not give a timetable for his departure before or during the Labour party conference this month, although friends indicated that he will stand down next year.

His refusal to clarify his intentions in public angered leftwing Labour MPs, who said the confusion could not go on. However, one source said: "He is trying not to convey the impression that he is in a mood of defiance."

The prime minister's current thinking is that he will stand down next summer. An announcement is most likely to come before the May elections for the Welsh assembly and Scottish parliament, which are expected to see heavy Labour losses. Mr Blair is in a quandary, believing that he would lose his remaining authority if he were to set an explicit date now.

Yesterday he tried to ride out the demands for an early timetable, saying: "If people want stable and orderly change, they should not keep obsessing about it in the meantime, but instead get on with the business of government."

Tony Blair left reality behind a long time ago. His fatal error was to annouce he was going to leave office and then not actually acting on it, because all his political support melted away at that point.

He is a lame duck Prime Minister, utterly lacking in support or respect. His submissive behaviour towards George Bush has been disgraceful along with his involvement of Britain in the illegal invasion of Iraq.