Blair asserts he's 'not for turning'

Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking at his regular monthly press conference, has declared that he will not be changing course despite the tough times he has endured.

At one point, when asked if he was having a “Thatcher moment”, the PM said that he thought he was having a “Blair moment for the moment”.

Seeking to concentrate instead on the “domestic agenda”, Mr Blair said the government could get through this period by building a better understanding among the public of "what it was trying to do and why".

Yesterday's assertion by senior intelligence officials - testifying at the Hutton inquiry - that elements of the Iraq dossier had been “over-egged” has seen renewed focus on several of the issues raised during the first phase of the inquiry, which concludes today.

However, Mr Blair, clearly preferring to await the outcome of the Hutton inquiry, said that people should “let the judge do the judging”.

Pressed on evidence which indicated that certain aspects of the dossier had been overplayed by “spin merchants”, the Prime Minister said that the testimonies should be taken in context of the “totality of the evidence” given to the inquiry.

Mr Blair said: “He’s [Lord Hutton] not looking at the headlines, he’s looking at the evidence. And I think what is very, very important… is to make our judgments on this once he’s made his judgment.

"I totally understand why people are concerned about it, but in the meantime there is no point in me speculating as to what he is going to find, that's for him.”

Attending the inquiry yesterday, Dr Brian Jones, in charge of a weapons intelligence team and part of the Ministry of Defence’s experts, said that there had been concern within his staff that the dossier’s language had been excessively strong.

Looking ahead to the resumption of the inquiry, Lord Hutton - who is now considering which witnesses to recall - said that too much should not be read into who was, and who was not, recalled in the second phase of the inquiry which is due to begin on September 15.

(SP)