Britain will decide within weeks whether to send more troops to Iraq, British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair said today as he acknowledged the war had dented support for his party that is braced for a backlash in June local and European elections.
Dispatching more soldiers to Iraq could prove politically fraught for the prime minister, whose poll ratings have plunged since the war, leading some in his Labour Party to question if their best electoral asset has become a liability.
Mr Blair denied a decision on sending what the media speculates will be a 3,000-strong force was being put off because of potential damage to the Labour vote at the June 10th ballot.
"It's not being delayed because of the elections at all. It's simply to make sure you get this decision right," Mr Blair told BBC Television, adding a decision would come "probably some time in the next few weeks".
But Mr Blair recognised the war had dented Labour's popularity. "Iraq is the shadow over our support," he said.
Mr Blair added he hoped to bring a hefty number of British troops home from Iraq by the end of 2005.
"I would want, certainly by the end of next year, to have a substantial reduction in the British troop commitment," he said.
Britain, Washington's main military partner in Iraq, has said it is in talks with its allies about troop levels after Spain's pullout from the volatile south-central region around Najaf put pressure on London to reinforce.
PA