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Families of dead troops call for inquiry

The families of British troops killed in Iraq marched on Prime Minister Tony Blair's office, demanding a public inquiry into the legality of the war and stirring a fiery debate two days before the national election.

The protest Tuesday came as the mother of a British soldier who died in Iraq on Monday blamed Blair for her son's death. Opinion polls on Tuesday showed large numbers of wavering voters in the run-up to Thursday's ballot.

Blair ruled out a public inquiry into the Iraq conflict.

"We have had inquiry after inquiry," Blair told Channel 4 television. "I most certainly do say we do not need to go back over this ground again and again."

Earlier, challenged on the campaign stump by a voter angry over the Iraq war, Blair said: "In the end, you have got to try to do as prime minister what you think is right for the country, and some of those decisions are very, very difficult."

"I think what you have got to ask yourself in the end is ... what is going to determine the future of this country, and I believe it is the economy, the health service and schools and law and order."

The fallout from the US-led invasion continued to dog Blair, despite an effort to shore up support by focusing on the economy, education and health care.

Ann Wakefield, whose son Anthony, 24, was killed Monday by a roadside bomb in the southern Iraqi city of Amarah, said she blamed Blair for his death.

"I felt Tony Blair lied to us and only went to war to cement his place in history," she said.

Wakefield's death brings the total number of British troops killed in Iraq to 87.

Tony Hamilton-Jewell, who was among those who called for a public inquiry into the war on Tuesday, said families of dead soldiers wanted to make sure no future government would go to war on a "whim."

"The man [Blair] is covering up for himself and his government," said Hamilton-Jewell, whose brother Simon was killed near the southern Iraq city of Basra in 2003.

Despite lingering resentment over the war, Labour is expected to win a third term Thursday but it could lose seats.

A MORI survey for the Financial Times newspaper put Labour 10 points ahead of the main opposition Conservatives with 39 percent. The Liberal Democrats, the only major party to oppose the war, was at 22 percent, according to the poll. Such a lead would be enough to give Blair a 146-seat majority.

But MORI also indicated the electorate was still volatile ahead of the vote. Some 36 percent said they might still change their minds, and Blair is not taking victory for granted. MORI interviewed 1,009 adults between April 29 and May 1, with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Strategists believe the race is tighter than many polls predict. In around 100 parliamentary districts, Labour's hold is slim. Blair fears that if core supporters stay at home, or vote Liberal Democrat in protest over the war, the Conservatives will win seats and erode his majority.

"The next 48 hours will be crucial," Blair told an election rally in Gloucester, western England, as he criss-crossed the country wooing voters.
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