Blair looked desperately tired, desperately tortured

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair seems to be losing the support of two key cabinet ministers and touch with reality, a leading British political editor warned yesterday.

Both the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Home Secretary David Blunkett are conspicuous by their reluctance to join Mr Blair in his support for the Iraqi war.

That is the view of New Statesman political editor John Kampfner who said people are also beginning to question the British Prime Minister's judgment.

And Mr Blair's performance on the Tonight with Trevor McDonald was tortured and he came across as a model of contradictions, Mr Kampfner said.

"On the one hand he (Mr Blair) looked desperately tired, desperately tortured he could not understand why he could not get his message across to people," Mr Kampfner said.

The British Prime Minister seemed to be almost in a religious trance utterly convinced that what he is doing is right and will prevail in the end, Mr Kampfner said.

His very simplistic approach to the world has borne fruit for Mr Blair up until now and he regards Kosovo as great example of the world acting in unison and against a rogue leader that was Milosevic, according to the New Statesman political editor.

"Mr Blair has used that template for Iraq and has not quite understood the subtleties of diplomacy that has stymied him," Mr Kampfner told RTÉ news.

People are now beginning to question Mr Blair's judgment and he seems in danger of losing touch with reality, according to the New Statesman political editor.

"The reality as he sees it, is not the reality that everyone else sees," Mr Kamfpner said.

Tony Blair convinced himself, or the people around him convinced him, that the French were never going to veto a UN resolution, that this was simply posturing by Jacques Chirac. However, he was proved wrong.

Mr Blair also made huge capital out of his ability to keep the Russians on side but Mr Putin has resolved to veto any new UN resolution.

And now the British Prime Minister's judgment is again being called into question, according to the New Statesman political editor.

"Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Home Secretary David Blunkett are also conspicuous by their reluctance to join Mr Blair in his support for a war against Iraq," Mr Kampfner said.

While Mr Brown seems to continuously say what is required of him he is hardly volunteering to go on the airwaves.

And even though Mr Blunkett will make all the right noises when asked, he is not the one out there in the front, according to the New Statesman political editor.

The only one who seems to be supporting Mr Blair is Labour Party chairman John Reid.

On Tonight with Trevor McDonald, Mr Blair was dumbfounded when a woman who lost a daughter in the Twin Towers told him she was anti-war.

Mr Blair's only response to remarks made against him was that he expected people to respect his opinion as he respected theirs.

"That is fine in a debating chamber, but whether that is what a prime minister about to launch a ferocious war ought to be resorting to, is another question," Mr Kampfner said.