Tony Blair: Man Of The People?

It seems that the American people are not the only ones who have their doubts about their nations leader. Britain's Tony Blair looks to be having some problems with the confidence of his people as well. ~Charee

Blair out of step as voters swing behind Iraq withdrawal
· ICM poll: 51% want plans for troops to leave
· PM admits surprise over ferocity of insurgency

Julian Glover and Michael White
Monday September 26, 2005
The Guardian

Tony Blair is at now at odds with the public over keeping troops in Iraq according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today which shows that voters want Britain to set a timetable for pulling troops out of the country despite the worsening security situation.

The poll also shows rapidly rising dissatisfaction with Mr Blair's leadership. Only 41% of voters are persuaded by the prime minister's argument that troops have a duty to remain in the country until things improve. By contrast, a majority of voters, 51%, want the government to set out plans to withdraw troops from Iraq regardless of the situation in the country.

Yesterday Mr Blair again argued that no arbitrary date should be set for withdrawal. In a BBC interview he said: "I have absolutely no doubt as to what we should do. We should stick with it."

But the poll, taken after last week's attack on British troops in Basra, shows that a clear majority, 64%, believe the situation in the country is worsening despite the presence of British forces. Just 12% now share Mr Blair's belief that British troops are actually helping to improve the security situation.

Support for Britain's presence in Iraq appears to be dropping in the wake of repeated attacks on coalition forces and the growing prospect of civil war in the country. At the start of this year ICM found 38% of voters believed the war against Iraq was justified, with 47% arguing that it was not.

Mr Blair insisted he will not withdraw British troops from Iraq until the country's emerging democracy and its armed forces are strong enough to cope alone, even as he admitted that the "ferocity" of recent attacks had caught him by surprise.

As Mr Blair spoke, John Reid, his defence secretary, denied British troops would begin a withdrawal from Iraq next May regardless of conditions there, or that ministers have a specific timetable for doing so. "There will then be a process - it won't happen overnight - where the [Iraqi security forces] gradually take the lead, we gradually withdraw to barracks and we gradually withdraw from Iraq itself."

Today's poll also shows the surge in support for the prime minister in the wake of his response to the London bombings is fading fast. It finds growing dissatisfaction with Mr Blair's leadership amid a widespread belief that he is devoting too much time to international issues. Most voters, 58%, are now unhappy with the job he is doing as prime minister, a reversal of the position in last month's Guardian/ICM poll, when a majority of voters said they were happy with him.

Mr Blair continues to retain majority support among Labour voters, with 68% backing him. But overall only 39% of voters are now satisfied with his leadership. That represents a sharp fall from 47% last month. One explanation may be that 71% of voters say Mr Blair is devoting too much time to international issues. That includes 69% of Labour voters who think this is the case. Overall only 25% disagree.

· ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,009 adults aged 18+ on September 23-24 2005. Interviews were conducted countrywide by telephone and the results have been weighted to be representative of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.