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Blair stresses domestic issues
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/06/16 11:29  Shanghai Daily

  British Prime Minister Tony Blair, facing reporters for the first time since his party was battered in European and local elections, said yesterday he wanted to focus on domestic issues.

  "Now is not the time for a change of direction, but it is the time for a change of gear," said Blair, who is expected to call national elections next year.

  Blair told reporters at his monthly news conference that the war in Iraq was a factor in Labour's poor showing, and that a sector of the public simply disagreed with his decision to put Britain in the forefront of the US-led coalition.

  "But I think the other part of it, and this came back from our members of Parliament, is that people want to know that even with all the stuff that is going on in foreign affairs, I'm actually concentrating on the issues that worry them in their lives: their living standards, the state of the economy, jobs, the national health service, schools, anti-social behavior," Blair said.

  The Prime Minister's Labour Party finished third in last week's local council elections in England and Wales, the worst showing by any governing party since World War II.

  The prime minister said he needed to persuade the country that the government was focused on the issues which it stressed in winning power in 1997 - a strong economy, low unemployment, improving public services and lowering crime.

  "I believe that we were right to take military action and remove Saddam Hussein from power and the judgment will increasingly be seen to be right as time goes on," he said.

  In the European elections, Labour lost seats to the UK Independence Party.

  (The Associated Press)




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