Reuters: Critics of Blair protest before party rally

[Eugene]

Critics of Blair protest before party rally
Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:46 PM BST

By Adrian Croft

MANCHESTER (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Saturday
against Prime Minister Tony Blair on the eve of a rally of his Labour Party
where a struggle over the leadership looked set to eclipse debate on policy.

Chanting opposition to the Iraq war, to nuclear weapons and shouting "Blair
must go!", activists streamed through the centre of the northern city of
Manchester, which will host Labour's annual conference from Sunday until
Thursday.

-snip-

Blair's backing for the U.S.-led war on Iraq and his reforms of public services
have angered many in Labour, leading to a slide in his popularity.

-snip-

Blair's sister-in-law, Lauren Booth, fronted one of the anti-war demonstrations,
telling reporters it was a "massive embarrassment" for her to be related to the
prime minister.

-snip-

Full article: http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-09-23T144612Z_01_HOL240549_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-BLAIR.xml

[Greeby]

1. "eclipse debate on policy"?

And when praytell was Labour going to have one of those?