UK News 29-09-2004 I`m Not Sorry who: Tony Blair what: Says it was right to go to war where: BRIGHTON when: Yesterday snippet: "Tony Blair admitted yesterday that his stance on Iraq had led to a collapse in his trust ratings," says The Independent, "and appealed to Labour to set aside differences on the war and work for a historic third term." The prime minister "offered critics of his Iraq war strategy his most contrite justification for the conflict so far," says The Guardian`s political editor, Michael White, "but stopped short of an outright apology, removing the word `sorry` from the text of his speech to Labour`s Brighton conference in frantic last-minute rewriting." "The evidence about Saddam having biological and chemical weapons has turned out to be wrong. I acknowledge that and I accept it," he says, quoted in The Sun. "I can apologise for the information that turned out to be wrong but I can`t sincerely apologise for removing Saddam." Despite the unsurprising emphasis on Iraq in newspaper coverage, Mr Blair`s own emphasis was on domestic policy, says The Financial Times. "He announced a 10-point plan on which the government would contest the election, expected next May, giving an explicit commitment to introduce an enhanced state pension." Elsewhere, The Sun reports that Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy collapsed and was rushed to hospital during yesterday`s speech. The Telegraph is titillated by protests outside the conference centre, where pro-hunting demonstrators vied for column inches alongside 52 year-old Welshman Reginald Keys, who threatened to hang himself on Brighton Pier yesterday in a protest over the death of his 20 year-old son, a soldier in Iraq. And the BBC reports that today will be home secretary David Blunkett`s turn on stage, where he will promise to recruit thousands of community support officers. [... more]

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