Blair to Counter Protest Storm over Abolition Lord Chancellor

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 17, 2003

Blair to Counter Protest Storm over Abolition Lord Chancellor

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been coming under fierce fire over last week's abolition plans for the Lord Chancellor,is to explain his reshuffle in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

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British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been coming under fierce fire over last week's abolition plans for the Lord Chancellor,is to explain his reshuffle in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Downing Street said Monday that Blair agreed to make the statement "in the usual way" in the lower part of the parliament after Prime Minister's Question Time.

His move came after the opposition Conservatives protested thatlawmakers had not been informed of plans to scrap the Lord Chancellor's role, shake up the judicial system and downgrade the posts of Scottish and Welsh Secretaries of State.

Blair has "torn up" 1,400 years of British constitutional history "in a single press release," the Conservatives lawmakers have accused, saying he should have consulted on the plans first.

Later, Commons Speaker Michael Martin said he was "concerned" about the changes and so had asked Blair for the statement.

It is highly unusual for the speaker to make such a request, orat least to reveal it publicly, a BBC report commented.

The Conservatives are now making the constitutional upheaval the subject of their opposition day debate on Tuesday, with Iain Duncan Smith leading the attack.

"Tony Blair is running scared in face of the chaos and confusion sparked by his botched reshuffle," Duncan Smith, leader of the Conservatives, said after learning Blair's move to make a statement.

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