Blair calls for ultimatum against Saddam Hussein

BLACKPOOL, England -- The world must send Saddam Hussein an ultimatum about weapons of mass destruction and be ready to back up tough talk with force, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday.

Bolstered by a vote of support from his war-wary Labor Party, Blair delivered an impassioned, hour-long speech that left him sweating from exertion, saying Britain must be ready to face the danger Iraq poses.

"There are times when caution is retreat and retreat is dangerous," he told the party's annual gathering in the northern English resort of Blackpool.

"I know the worry over Iraq. People accept Saddam is bad. But they fear it's being done for the wrong motives. They fear us acting alone," he said. "Let us lay down the ultimatum. Let Saddam comply with the will of the U.N."

If he doesn't comply, Blair said, "Here is the hard part. If ... we lose our collective will to deal with it, we will lose the authority not of the United States, or of Britain, but of the United Nations."

In a wide-ranging speech that dealt largely with domestic issues, Blair linked the showdown with Saddam to efforts to better the world, renew Britain and modernize his party.

Soon after the speech, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw welcomed an announcement that weapons inspectors had reached an agreement with Iraq on the return of weapons inspectors to most sites suspected of holding chemical and biological weapons. But he said that was not an alternative to a new and tougher U.N. resolution.

Opposition stirred up

The address echoed what some observers called the almost missionary-like zeal shown by Blair in his address to last year's Labor Party conference, shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, during which he said the uncertainty in the world provided a chance to remake it for the better.

"I believe we're at our best when at our boldest," he said Tuesday.

The prime minister said that when dealing with dictators, sometimes "the only hope for peace is the readiness for war."

Blair has been President Bush's strongest ally in the campaign to build international support for action against Saddam, but talk of war with Iraq has stirred up opposition in Parliament, his party and the general public.

The United States and Britain have put forward a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council that includes an authorization for use of military force if Iraq does not comply on weapons inspections. The council's five permanent members discussed the draft Tuesday. France is seeking two resolutions, with the second allowing force if the first on inspections is not obeyed.

While acknowledging that many resent the power of the United States, Blair defended his close relationship with Bush and dismissed criticism that he too closely follows Washington's lead.

"The basic values of America are our values, too -- Britain and Europe -- and they are good values," Blair said.

"My vision of Britain is not the 51st state of anywhere, but I believe in this alliance, and I will fight long and hard to preserve it," despite what he called widespread anti-Americanism in Britain and elsewhere.

Labor has been divided for months over Blair's stance on Iraq, but conference delegates gave him a crucial vote of support Monday, when they passed a motion supporting the use of force against Saddam if all else fails and the United Nations supports it.

Blair's hour-long speech focused particularly his plans to reform Britain's public services.

Years after he dragged the party from the fringes of the left toward centrism and back into office, he said the Labor faithful must not be afraid to modernize further.

The conference dealt him a rebuke on Monday when -- with the heavy support of unions -- it backed a motion calling for an independent review of Blair's plans to partly privatize schools, hospitals and other public services.

Blair said ahead of time that he would ignore that nonbinding vote, and he vowed Tuesday to press ahead even faster.

"We on the left have our own pessimism," he said. "It's that if we change a cherished institution, we betray it. If we deliver a service in a different way, we somehow trash its founding principles."

"Come on," he chided. "This isn't a betrayal of public services. It's their renewal."

"Now is the time to quicken the march of progress, not mark time," he said. "What started with the renewal of the Labor Party only ends with the renewal of Britain. ... This is not the time to abandon our journey of modernization but to see it through."

Blair also gave one of his strongest arguments in favor of joining the European single currency, saying Britain should accept the euro as soon as it meets the country's economic requirements.

"We should only join the euro if the economic tests are met. That is clear," he said. "But if the tests are passed, we go for it."