UK poll ’sends signals to Australia’

THE routing of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s ruling Labour party
in local council elections showed how vulnerable governments were in the
wake of the Iraq war, Australian commentators said today.

The British Labour party lost about 470 seats nationwide in council
elections, with the anti-war Liberal Democrats securing around 30 per
cent of the vote.

Griffith University Emeritus Professor of History and Politics, Ross
Fitzgerald, said the British result was a positive sign for Labor leader
Mark Latham.

"It’s hard to read, but in the main I think Latham can take heart, just
as Senator Kerry (US Democratic presidential candidate) could take heart
in America," Prof Fitzgerald said.

He said the result showed dissatisfaction with the war was continuing to
flow through to ballot boxes.

"The longer it goes on, with more body bags and with more reports of
allied misdemeanours, that will rebound here in Australia," he said.

Mr Latham, visiting Queensland for the state Labor conference today,
said he had not reached any conclusions on the results of the British
elections.

"These are things for the British people to sort out in their own
democracy, and how they vote at local elections is up to them," he said.

But he said Australians remained disappointed with the Howard Government
over the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - the key
justification for going to war.

Australian Democrats Leader Andrew Bartlett said the fact that Mr Blair
had himself identified anti-war feeling as contributing to the vote
result was significant.

"I hope it does flow on here because I think the Government needs to be
held responsible for not just the difficult situation we find ourselves
in now but the disgraceful amount of lies and deception and avoidance of
responsibility that they’ve engaged in the whole way through on this
issue," Senator Bartlett said.

Senator Bartlett said voter attitudes could change after July 1.

"We’ll have the new Iraq administration after July 1 and that may change
people’s attitudes," he said.

But he said he believed core issues such as health and education would
remain the priority with voters.