Labour keen on May 3 poll

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MARCH 26. As the process of killing and burying nearly half a million cattle in a mass grave in Cumbria over the next three days began today in a massive army-assisted operation to control the foot-and- mouth epidemic, there were reports that general elections may be put off by a month. But the overwhelming opinion within Labour was said to be in favour of sticking to the May 3 timetable.

The chairman of the Labour parliamentary party, Mr. Clive Soley, said it would be an ``error of judgment'' to postpone the democratic process and send out a wrong message. He argued that Britain had held elections in abnormal circumstances before and there was no justification for delaying them now. Far from helping the farmers, a delay could do ``immense damage to the reputation of the country and to certain sections of industry, notably tourism,'' he said.

Mr. Soley, who had extensive discussions with Labour MPs, claimed that 70 per cent wanted elections to go ahead on May 3. ``Everyone is of the view that we must not appear arrogant or fail to listen to what people are saying. The overwhelming feeling is that putting them off would not in any way help the farmers,'' he pointed out. The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. John Prescott, was quoted as saying that though the opinion was divided, his own view was that a delay would create an impression that Britain was in deep crisis. He echoed the Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair's line that the outside world should not get the idea that Britain was ``closed for business''.

Critics said that talk of ``pressure'' on Mr. Blair from within the party against a delay had been orchestrated by his spin doctors, and maintained that holding elections in the midst of a national crisis would be in poor taste. The Independent reported that even as Ministers would be publicly making out a case for elections on May 3, contingency plans were being drawn up for a ``month-long pause'' and June 7 was the most likely new date. The Government was not in favour of putting them off until autumn fearing that unforeseen circumstances could jeopardise its prospects. ``With America heading towards a recession, they fear that Britain's economic position might look very different by the autumn and delaying the poll until then could upset Labour's entire re-election strategy,'' it said.

Downing Street was reported to be trying hard to ensure that Mr. Blair's carefully crafted election timetable did not become a casualty of foot-and-mouth. His decision to take direct control of the crisis was seen as an attempt to deliver some progress over the next few days and make out a case that the Government had got a grip of the situation and therefore elections could be held on May 3.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Defying convention, the Oscars go `global'
Next     : Fighting rages in Macedonia