Execution date awaits Tony Blair

The Age

How can he stay? Think of the months ahead: Labour falling further in the polls, the Tories gloating, neither journalists nor public servants nor the world at large paying any heed to his policy statements because they might soon be undone.

Imagine a cabinet meeting where he and his successor-in-waiting, Chancellor Gordon Brown, butt heads on a vital issue: what minister is going to back the Prime Minister when he'll soon be gone?

Hear the constant talk of frozen government, panicked MPs calling for renewal to counter a resurgent Conservative Party, the tedious demand every time he fronts a microphone: when are you going?

How long can Tony Blair stay? Will he make it to Christmas? The questions abounded after Mr Blair announced on Thursday (early yesterday Melbourne time) that he would quit within a year, but defiantly resisted calls to set an exact time. Mr Blair insisted on going his own way, believing that a use-by date would leave him fatally undermined. He is already. Read more