Blair needs personal exit strategy

1.47.41pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 27th Mar 2006

"It is time for the Prime Minister to tell us his own exit strategy"

Commenting on the Prime Minister's continuing unwillingness to name a precise departure date, Sir Menzies Campbell MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: "It is time for the Prime Minister to tell us his own exit strategy. His admission in Australia has only added to the current uncertainty and sense of drift. The issue now is not the interests of the Labour party but the good governance of Britain."

Tony Blair has acknowledged it may have been a 'mistake' to announce he would not be serving a fourth term in office. "People kept asking me the question so I decided to answer it. Maybe that was a mistake," he told Australian radio after attending the Commonwealth Games.

"Mr Blair has insisted he will serve a full third term in office before resigning but there has been constant speculation about when he will quit and hand over to Chancellor Gordon Brown. Newspapers on Monday reported that the prime minister is understood to have a firm date in mind for his departure, but even his closest aides do not know when it is.