Blair 'set to stand down as MP'

British Prime Minister Tony Blair will tomorrow head for a meeting of his constituency Labour Party amid speculation that he is preparing to stand down as a MP, his agent John Burton said tonight.

Mr Burton said that he expected Mr Blair would give up his seat in Sedgefield, County Durham, if – as expected – he is confirmed as the new international envoy to the Middle East.

“I think, if he gets the Middle East job, he will resign as an MP,” he said.

US officials in Washington said Mr Blair would be named tomorrow as special envoy for the international diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East after he finally stands down as British Prime Minister.

His appointment was discussed by representatives of the Quartet – the US, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia – at talks today in Jerusalem.

Earlier, Mr Blair signalled his enthusiasm for the job at his last No 10 news conference.

“I think that anybody who cares about greater peace and stability in the world knows that a lasting and enduring resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian issue is essential,” he said.

“As I have said on many occasions, I would do whatever I could to help such a resolution come about.”

Former Cabinet minister Clare Short, who quit Labour last year to sit as an independent MP, dismissed the envoy role as “tokenistic”.

“I don’t know whether we should laugh or cry,” she told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme.

“The Road Map is going nowhere – it was meant to lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005.

“So a lot of this is footling around but it is not leading anywhere. The prospects for a two-state solution are evaporating in front of our eyes.

“So this is tokenistic – it won’t do Tony Blair any good, it won’t do peace any good or the Middle East any good.”

The question of whether or not Mr Blair stepped down as an MP was a “marginal detail”, she said, adding that it would not be necessary.