One in three want Blair to go over Iraq
More than one in three Britons say Prime Minister Tony Blair should resign over the Iraq war, according to a YouGov poll in The Mail on Sunday.
The poll, which is the first comprehensive test of public opinion since the death of hostage Kenneth Bigley, showed 36 percent of voters wanted Blair to step down.
However the poll also showed that a clear majority of people do not blame him for the death of the 62-year old engineer, who was beheaded by militants in Iraq on Thursday afternoon.
65 percent of those questioned said that the Prime Minister was not to blame for Mr Bigley’s murder, while 59 percent believed the Government had done everything it could to secure his release.
“They are not blaming the Government for Bigley at all. Blair’s problem is trust and what has happened in Iraq generally,” YouGov’s Peter Kellner told Reuters.
The poll suggests that Iraq is likely to remain at the top of the political agenda in the months before the expected general election next spring.
The distressing news of Mr Bigley’s death follows a report from the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) showing that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. The Prime Minister maintains the report shows that Saddam Hussein “had every intention of reviving his WMD programmes”, but critics suggest that the group’s conclusion has destroyed Mr Blair’s main argument for taking military action in Iraq.
In the Independent on Sunday, former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix suggests that Tony Blair and George Bush are “clinging to straws” to justify the war.
Nonetheless, the latest opinion poll for The Telegraph appears to contradict the findings of the YouGov poll, giving Labour a nine-point lead over the Conservatives.
A separate Populus survey for the News of the World also suggests that Tony Blair is still the most trusted leader, with 29 per cent of respondents backing the prime minister. Conservative leader Michael Howard received just 24 per cent of support, one point behind Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy on 25 per cent.
