Disappointment on Prime Minister Blair, Supporting Ratio Plunged

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was praised that `he is a Winston Churchill at World War II` for his active diplomacy at the early stage of the war against terror, is being deserted by everybody in 6 months.

That`s because the ratio of support is `falling without stopping` due to successive bad news, and he is estranged even in Labour Party. Some say that he should resign.

▽`Step down` = British Sunday Times reported on the 24th that majority of English people were disappointed in his Premiership and thought that he should step down at the next election. The paper carried the result of a opinion poll ratings that out of total 2277 respondents, ▽54 percent were disappointed in his premiership, ▽20 percent said he should step down now, while 43% that he should do so at the next election. Especially, a third of Labour voters said Blair had been a letdown.

Moreover, systematic challenges to his leadership are suspected in Labour Party. British press like Sunday Times and Guardian reported that the lawmakers of Labour Party are likely to support Finance Minister Gordon Brown or party chairperson Charles Clarke for party leader substituting Prime Minister Blair.

▽Why? = The fatal blow against Premier Blair was the `betrayal` of U.S. President George W Bush, who pretended to be a `friend`. Premier Blair has supported the war against terror no less hard than President Bush has from immediately after the Sept. 11 terror.

But British public opinion coolly turned from him as U.S. leaked the possibilities of expanding the war to Iraq. On the opinion poll by Sunday Times, 59 percent of English people opposed to the support of England for U.S. military action against Iraq. 130 Labour parliamentarians seconded a motion opposing to England`s backing U.S.

From bad to worse, Mr. Bush`s safe guard measure on imported steel drove Premier Blair into a corner. British press sarcastically spoke of Premier Blair with the remarks like `unilateral gifting U.S., ` `lord (Bush) and servant (Blair), ` and `Blair`s unanswered love for Bush`. Alice Mahon of Labour Party maliciously said, “England should stop wagging a tail to U.S.”

Domestically, he lost points from the supporters of Labour Party as he introduced conservative policies like committing public service to private hands. Recently, he suffered from the `steel gate` which was caused by the letter to Prime Minister of Romania so that Lakshmi Mittal, who donated political funds to the Labour Party, could take over the Romania national steel plant.

Jei-Gyoon Park phark@donga.com