Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Tony Blair Faces Two Pronged Attack This Week
Aired January 26, 2004 - 05:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: On the heels of David Kay's resignation comes a crucial report on the suicide of British weapons expert David Kelly. The issue of making a case for going to war in Iraq now weighs as heavily on Prime Minister Tony Blair as it does on President Bush.
As our Robin Oakley reports, Mr. Blair faces a two pronged attack this week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For prime ministers is at the sharp end of world affairs, crisis headlines come around almost weekly. But this time, Tony Blair concedes it is for real. Over 24 hours, his authority will be put to the test as never before.
First, British law makers will vote Tuesday on a controversial plan to allow universities to charge variable fees, recouped from students when they become earners. It's a crunch, because many of Blair's own Labor Party members of parliament are threatening to join opposition parties in voting down the idea, which Blair insists is a crucial reform.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It's going to be a big struggle and there's a lot of people still to persuade and but, no, there will be absolutely no retreat on the principles of this at all.
OAKLEY: If he loses that vote, Mr. Blair's authority will likely be shattered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Silence. All rise.
OAKLEY: But then on Wednesday comes the Hutton inquiry report into the death of Dr. David Kelly, who confessed to his government bosses he might have been the source for a BBC story that Blair sexed up the dossier making the case for war against Iraq. A BBC journalist reported that Downing Street made the claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy chemical and biological weapons at 45 minutes notice against the wishes of intelligence advisers and knowing it to be wrong. Blair told the inquiry, "This was an attack which went to the heart of the office of prime minister and the way our intelligence services operated. If true, it would have merited my resignation."
But who, then, pushed Dr. Kelly into the public spotlight he found it so hard to endure? Last July, Blair told journalists it wasn't him. \ "Did you authorize anyone in Downing Street or the Ministry of Defense to release Kelly's name?"
"I did not authorize the leaking of the name of David Kelly."
But observers say Defense Department chief Sir Kevin Tebbit raised doubts about that, telling the inquiry Kelly's identity was confirmed to journalists only after a meeting chaired by Blair.
PETER OBORNE, "THE SPECTATOR": That message which came through was that Tony Blair himself, from within Downing Street, coordinated and led the whole strategy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OAKLEY: Polls show that if the Hutton inquiry does blame the prime minister for Kelly's death, then a majority of the public would expect him to resign. But analysts generally agreed that the blame is likely to be spread much wider than Tony Blair and he can, of course, counteract any defeat in parliament by staging a confidence vote, which he would then win.
But either way, it's going to be a bruising week for Tony Blair -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Robin Oakley, thanks very much this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 26, 2004 - 05:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: On the heels of David Kay's resignation comes a crucial report on the suicide of British weapons expert David Kelly. The issue of making a case for going to war in Iraq now weighs as heavily on Prime Minister Tony Blair as it does on President Bush.
As our Robin Oakley reports, Mr. Blair faces a two pronged attack this week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For prime ministers is at the sharp end of world affairs, crisis headlines come around almost weekly. But this time, Tony Blair concedes it is for real. Over 24 hours, his authority will be put to the test as never before.
First, British law makers will vote Tuesday on a controversial plan to allow universities to charge variable fees, recouped from students when they become earners. It's a crunch, because many of Blair's own Labor Party members of parliament are threatening to join opposition parties in voting down the idea, which Blair insists is a crucial reform.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It's going to be a big struggle and there's a lot of people still to persuade and but, no, there will be absolutely no retreat on the principles of this at all.
OAKLEY: If he loses that vote, Mr. Blair's authority will likely be shattered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Silence. All rise.
OAKLEY: But then on Wednesday comes the Hutton inquiry report into the death of Dr. David Kelly, who confessed to his government bosses he might have been the source for a BBC story that Blair sexed up the dossier making the case for war against Iraq. A BBC journalist reported that Downing Street made the claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy chemical and biological weapons at 45 minutes notice against the wishes of intelligence advisers and knowing it to be wrong. Blair told the inquiry, "This was an attack which went to the heart of the office of prime minister and the way our intelligence services operated. If true, it would have merited my resignation."
But who, then, pushed Dr. Kelly into the public spotlight he found it so hard to endure? Last July, Blair told journalists it wasn't him. \ "Did you authorize anyone in Downing Street or the Ministry of Defense to release Kelly's name?"
"I did not authorize the leaking of the name of David Kelly."
But observers say Defense Department chief Sir Kevin Tebbit raised doubts about that, telling the inquiry Kelly's identity was confirmed to journalists only after a meeting chaired by Blair.
PETER OBORNE, "THE SPECTATOR": That message which came through was that Tony Blair himself, from within Downing Street, coordinated and led the whole strategy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OAKLEY: Polls show that if the Hutton inquiry does blame the prime minister for Kelly's death, then a majority of the public would expect him to resign. But analysts generally agreed that the blame is likely to be spread much wider than Tony Blair and he can, of course, counteract any defeat in parliament by staging a confidence vote, which he would then win.
But either way, it's going to be a bruising week for Tony Blair -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Robin Oakley, thanks very much this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
