EU elections should be vote on Iraq war, says Lib Dem leader
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, May 5, IRNA -- British voters should use the European parliamentary election on June 10 to send Prime Minister Tony Blair a message on the Iraq war, according to Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy. Speaking at the launch of his party`s European manifesto Wednesday, Kennedy said that the Iraq war had wounded the Labor prime minister the most. "It is of course Iraq which has done the most damage. It is a breathtaking move to choose to distance our country so dramatically from both the United Nations and the European Union at one and the same time," he said. The Lib Dem leader, who opposed last year`s invasion of Iraq, said that Blair had isolated Britain on such issues as the war and the single currency and proved the UK `inadequately engaged at the heart of Europe`. He said voters should send Tony Blair an `unambiguous message` that `you no longer speak in our name`. The European elections are the `most appropriate forum to cast judgment on the wisdom of this government`, he said. Last September, Britain`s third largest party humiliated Labor by winning one of its safest parliamentary seats of Brent East in north- west London. Labor`s defeat was attributed to a lack of trust in the British prime minister following the continuing controversy over the war against Iraq. The Lib Dems are hoping to further capitalize on the war by increasing the current number of its 10 members of the European parliament. The election being held next month are for Britain`s 78 seats in the Strasbourg-based parliament, which has been reduced from 87 due to the enlargement of the EU. Labor currently has 29 MEPs and the Conservatives 36. HC/AH/210
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