Time to go in the national interest, Cameron tells Blair

13 April 2012

Tony Blair should quit as Prime Minister now "in the national interest", Conservative leader David Cameron told MPs in a packed House of Commons today.

Aides said it was the first time Mr Cameron had directly told Mr Blair at Prime Minister's Questions that it was time for him to leave 10 Downing Street.

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Mr Blair sought to shrug off the assault, insisting that the national interest lay in the Labour Government continuing to pursue its policies.

But Mr Cameron told him to recognise the "reality staring" him in the face.

"The Government can't plan. Ministers are treading water. They are all waiting for the Chancellor and not listening to you," said the Tory leader.

"Your authority is draining away. Why don't you accept what everybody knows - it is now in the national interest for you to go."

The exchange appeared to mark a decision by Mr Cameron to step up efforts to convince voters that the Prime Minister is becoming a "lame duck" as his departure from 10 Downing Street draws nearer.

But Mr Blair hit back by reminding Mr Cameron that crime had doubled under the last Tory administration and claiming that the Tory leader's commitment to tax cuts would make him unable to provide the prison places promised by Labour.

"I'll tell you what I believe is in the national interest," he said.

"That we continue with a strong economy, with the highest levels of employment and the lowest levels of unemployment."

Today's confrontation came as a survey for The Independent suggested support for Labour had dipped below 30 per cent, with a substantial segment of the party's core vote telling pollsters CommunicateResearch they would not now back it.

And it followed Home Secretary John Reid's admission that it would take two and a half years to sort out problems in his department and his pledge that he would "see it through".

In their weekly despatch-box exchange, Mr Cameron demanded a "guarantee" from Mr Blair that the Home Secretary would be given the time he said he needed.

Mr Blair has said he will no longer be Labour leader by the start of September, but insists he will still be in place for a European Union summit on June 21.

If Chancellor Gordon Brown succeeds him, as expected, many in Westminster believe there will be no place in his Cabinet for Mr Reid.

Mr Cameron suggested that the Home Secretary and other Cabinet ministers could be sure of their positions for no more than another four and a half months - indicating he expected the Prime Minister to go in mid-June.

And he said: "I asked about the Home Secretary's future and because you are going you cannot give any sort of guarantee.

"Isn't that the whole problem with this Government? In any organisation if you have got long-term problems, you can't have a short-term chief executive.

"In these circumstances, a Minister like the Home Secretary cannot plan for the future."

Mr Blair told MPs he could "certainly guarantee" that Mr Reid would continue to make investment in areas like new prison places and police community support officers, and defended Labour's record on crime, which he said had fallen over the past decade.

But Mr Cameron responded: "You talk about your policy. You aren't going to be here to implement it.

"When are you going to realise that it's all over?"

Cabinet Ministers were "falling over themselves" to attack Mr Blair's foreign policy in a bid to improve their chances of becoming Mr Brown's deputy, said Mr Cameron, in an apparent reference to Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain.

And he said other Ministers were joining picket lines to protest against cuts caused by Mr Blair's health policy.

"But there's nothing you can do about it," he told the Prime Minister. "Can't you see it's time for you to go?"

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