From the London Observer
(Sunday supplement of the Guardian
Unlimited (UK)
Dated Sunday June 13
We could lose next election, says Hain
· Key minister warns of Howard victory 'by back door'
· Blair seeks way to reduce public anger over Iraq war
By Gaby Hinsliff, chief political correspondent
Tony Blair could lose the next general election unless angry Labour supporters step back from the brink, a senior cabinet minister warned yesterday.
Peter Hain became the first major figure publicly to admit the depth of the trouble facing the government, after Labour was forced into third place behind the Tories and Liberal Democrats in local elections last week. Until now, the government has insisted that the backlash was a midterm protest vote that would evaporate.
Hain's remarks were made as it emerged that the Prime Minister may try to defuse anger about the war in Iraq with a mea culpa over the failure of the allies to find weapons of mass destruction.
Warning that the party had had too few answers to the Lib Dems, who wooed Labour deserters by focusing heavily on Iraq, Hain said the third party was becoming 'a kind of sponge for absorbing Labour discontent', just as Labour once did to the Tories.
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