Blair Suffers Major Party Revolt Over Iraq
(The New York Times) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair suffered by far the largest revolt he has faced from his war-wary Labor Party but still won a parliamentary vote Wednesday over tackling Iraq.
The government put forward a motion asking parliament to back United Nations efforts to disarm Iraq. It did not mention the possibility of war, which Blair says could follow within weeks if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein does not disarm.
But 199 parliamentarians backed an amendment to that motion stating that the case for war is unproven, fearing they will not get another say before military action begins.
Embarrassingly for Blair, 122 of them came from his ruling Labor Party — more than a quarter of the total in parliament — dwarfing any previous internal rebellion he has faced in nearly six years in power.
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