Poll finds widespread support for Iraq withdrawal

Tuesday, 24 October 2006 12:00 AM

Two thirds of the public want British troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year, two new polls show.

A survey for the Guardian finds 61 per cent want troops to leave this year, regardless of the consequences or the decisions made by the US. Just 30 per cent support Tony Blair's pledge to stay as long as is necessary.

Forty-five per cent want an immediate withdrawal and 16 per cent believe it should happen by Christmas. A similar poll in September last year found 51 per cent support for a troop withdrawal, but 41 per cent said the UK should stay until the situation improved.

A separate poll for the Independent, also published today, finds that 62 per cent of respondents want Britain's 7,000-plus troops out of the country immediately. A large majority (72 per cent) believe the war in Iraq is "unwinnable".

In addition, 72 per cent of respondents predict Iraq would descend into civil war if British and American troops pulled out.

The results come after foreign secretary Margaret Beckett yesterday acknowledged the invasion of Iraq may come to be seen as a "foreign policy disaster" for Britain.

Asked if that is how historians would view the situation on BBC Radio Four's The World at One, she said: "Yes, they may. Then again, they may not."

Ms Beckett also appeared to suggest a solution to the current instability might be to split Iraq into separate Sunni, Shia and Kurdish areas - something both Washington and London have previously refused to countenance.

"Everyone has been very keen to keep everyone together, but in the longer term . . . it is not for us to say, 'you will do this or you will do that'," she said.

Asked if it would be a disaster if Iraq split up, she added: "If that is what they want and they feel it is workable that is another matter."

Yesterday, Tony Blair held talks with Iraqi deputy prime minister Barhim Salih at Downing Street, where he promised Britain would "hold its nerve" in his country.

Mr Salih told reporters after the meeting that although the Iraqi government must take responsibility for security, the support of UK and US troops was vital. He said the international community could not "cut and run".

Last night, Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell called for an urged parliamentary debate over Iraq, saying the current strategy was "in ruins".

"In March 2003 parliament was allowed to debate whether military action should be taken surely parliament should now be allowed to debate whether we stay or go. The government owes that to the House of Commons but most of all to the British people," he said.

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