'Blair's authority ebbing away'

Dy PM John Prescott, Home Secy Charles Clarke and Education Secy Ruth Kelly are among ministers, who defied Blair as he tried to reshuffle his Cabinet, reports said.

The authority of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose Labour party has been returned to a historic third term but with drastically reduced majority, was ebbing away as details emerged of how he was repeatedly forced by members of his Cabinet to cave in during an attempt to give his Government a post-election shake-up, media reports on Sunday said.

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Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, Home Secretary Charles Clarke and Education Secretary Ruth Kelly are among ministers, who defied Blair as he tried to reshuffle his Cabinet to concentrate power in the hands of modernisers, The Independent on Sunday said.

Prescott flatly refused to cede control of local government to David Blunkett, while Clarke was furious at plans to strip the Home Office of its responsibility for curbing anti-social behaviour, the report said.

According to The Observer, Blair has made clear he has no plans to quit early and has given Chancellor Gordon Brown no date for his departure.

The timetable being discussed within Blair's private circle is for him to trigger a party leadership contest in July 2008 and remain as prime minister while the succession issue is resolved, allowing the new leader to take over that autumn.

"The best thing would be to get in at party conference 2008- that gives you a year to establish yourself but not become over familiar," the newspaper quoted Downing Street Street sources as saying.