British Minister resigns

LONDON: The British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, suffered a surprise blow when Mr. Peter Kilfoyle resigned on Sunday night as the junior Defence Minister to engage himself in ``political debate'' from the back benches. Mr. Kilfoyle, an old-style rightwinger who was a strong supporter of Mr. Blair's modernisation of the party, is now understood to be concerned that Labour is losing touch with its traditional supporters. Like some other MPs from northern working class constituencies, 53- year old Mr. Kilfoyle has been privately critical of what he sees as the Government's focus on southern middle class issues. In his resignation letter, Mr. Kilfoyle said he wanted to concentrate on issues concerning the ``regions of England and the heartlands of Labour'' and could better serve his constituents from the backbenches.

- PTI

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Section  : International
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