Mutiny grows as Blair admits Cabinet dissent

[spindrifter]

The Times August 04, 2006

By Rosemary Bennett, David Charter and Andrew Pierce

TONY BLAIR admitted yesterday that the Cabinet was split over his handling of Lebanon but continued his refusal to condemn Israel for its military tactics.

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(Comments by various members of parliament and peers include:)

“The whole thing is a tragedy and a farce. The whole Cabinet is responsible for not standing up to the Prime Minister.”

Michael Connarty, MP for Linlithgow and Falkirk East, said that it was too late to start talking about an immediate ceasefire. “All these deaths have occurred during the period in which he would not call for an absolute and immediate ceasefire,” he said. “It is embarrassing and . . . entirely unacceptable. I am beginning to worry that our Prime Minister does not care about what his backbenchers think or about what Parliament thinks any longer.”

Lord Paul of Marylebone said that the Prime Minister was allowing a tragedy to unfold. “It is so wrong that we are letting innocent people die. How many more innocent people are to be killed before we call for a ceasefire,” he said. “It is a human tragedy and we should not be part of it.” Iain Wright, MP for Hartlepool, supported Mr Blair. He said: “The Foreign Office and Number 10 have been trying to work diplomatically to get a sustainable peace. We can all shout for an immediate ceasefire but my concern is that it would not stop anything on the ground.”

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2298573,00.html