UK News 25-09-2000 Blair Takes Blame For Petrol Crisis who: Tony Blair what: Says petrol blockades were his responsibility where: BRIGHTON when: Yesterday snippet: Tony Blair is "under mounting pressure" to make concessions on petrol and pensions, says The Guardian today, as Labour begins its party conference in Brighton. Mr Blair "dramatically put his political life on the line," says The Mirror, "as he shouldered the blame for the Government`s disastrous summer slump." "It happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for it," he said. But shouldering the responibility is not enough for The Sun`s Trevor Kavanagh, who says that although Mr Blair "admitted voters were right to be angry over petrol, pensions and the Dome", the PM "refused point-blank to say sorry". Peter Mandelson yesterday also admitted that the government had mishandled the petrol crisis and appeared unsympathetic and "high-handed". Yet his rival Gordon Brown is expected to stand firm over petrol taxes in his conference speech today, saying that there can be "no return to short-termism" and "no sudden lurches in tax or spending policy", according to The Times. Meanwhile, the Tories seized on comments made by Mr Blair in a TV interview yesterday further complicating the "Ecclestone affair". Last week, Gordon Brown was accused of lying over the party`s actions in 1997 when the Labour party was forced to return a £1million donation from Formula One bigwig Bernie Ecclestone following a controversial ruling on tobacco advertising in sport. Yesterday, Tory front-bencher Andrew Lansley claimed that Mr Blair had only paid back the money because he had been told to by anti-sleaze watchdog Lord Neill. "If he had already decided not to accept further donations," sais Mr Lansley, "why did Labour write to Sir Patrick Neill to ask whether it could accept such donations?" [... more]

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