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Making A Date
Looks like Tony Blair's retirement date has been chosen for him: That's what you get for hanging around in caring-sharing cut-throat New Labour.
The Sun leads with the date, amid reports that several junior ministers have resigned following their demands that he go sooner.
He hasn't named the date publicly, though: The newspaper reports that he told a group of close aides that he will announce his resignation on May 31 next year, putting in motion an eaight-week leadership battle for his succession. He will finally step down on July 26, just in time for the holidays.
Blair is resisting calls to name his date: He fears that this could plague his last months in power with "lame duck" accusations. However, many MPs believe that by failing to set a retirement date he risks plunging the party into uncertainty and possible civil war, as Blair loyalists square up to the increasingly frustrated supporters of leader-in-waiting Gordon Brown.
Of course, there is speculation that Blair could have avoided this conflict by naming a date earlier: Hanging on for as long as he has has driven the media into a feeding frenzy as insider after insider has briefed hacks on what each camp is up to.
Yesterday we reported that Blair's aides had drawn up plans for a "Farewell Tour" to highlight Blair's legacy. These plans were widely reported in the press - though only Westminister bloggers pointed out that the author of the story, reporter Kevin Maguire, is widely viewed as Gordon Brown's chief cheerleader in the popular press.
Brown's furrowed brow will darken further if there is any truth in the Sun's scoop. Up to recently, it was expected that Blair would simply hand the reigns of power to the Chancellor of the Exchequer - now he faces a leadership election. It's likely he'd win such a fight, but Brown would be unhappy with the idea that the election be used as a debating platform for the future of the party.
The Guardian claims Brown sees Blair leaking the date as "not good enough" - he wants a clear timetable for action. His lieutenants, no doubt, are behind other fiendish plots to bring Blair down sooner, which have led one Labour figure to warn that the current furore risks turning an "orderly transition into a crisis of regicide"
