Keys Calls on Blair to Resign and Tories and Liberal Democrats to Pull Candidates Out in Sedgefield

KEYS FOR SEDGEFIELD CAMPAIGN

PRESS INFORMATION - BREAKING NEWS

Reg Keys, independent candidate in Sedgefield, tonight called on Tony Blair to resign as PM and on the leaders of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties to pull their candidates from the race in Sedgefield.

He said:

'The gap between the Attorney General's advice of 7 March 2003, as we now understand it, and the 'summary' of 17 March on which both Cabinet and Parliament agreed to go to war is now politically unbridgeable. I can envisage no explanation which would satisfy those who voted for the war on the assurances of the AG's 'summary'.

'I therefore feel that Tony Blair has no choice but to resign as Prime Minister. I call on him to do so, and I call on Michael Howard and Charles Kennedy to withdraw their candidates in Sedgefield so that I can face Blair alone on May 5th.

'Michael Howard and the voters of Sedgefield now have an unprecedented opportunity to call Blair to account with the simple remedy of the ballot box. If Howard believes Blair to have lied over the war then I implore him to take this opportunity seriously. He is no longer obliged to be bound by the convention whereby one party leader does not expose another by withdrawing their candidate. He himself says Blair has lied, and this is his opportunity to show that he is serious and to expose him to the test of the ballot box.

'My plea extends to Charles Kennedy despite his party's opposition to the war. Our canvass results show clearly that Sedgefield has already become a two-horse race with myself and Blair running neck and neck amongst declared voters.'

Martin Bell, former Independent MP for Tatton and the original 'white suit candidate', said tonight:

'The extraordinary situation has arisen whereby the Prime Minister is facing a crisis of confidence of unprecedented proportions at the same time as he is facing re-election as a member of Parliament. And even more extraordinary is that standing against him is the best qualified opponent he has ever faced, who for the first time has turned a general election in Sedgefield from a procession into a real contest of national and international significance. A political miracle is within reach.'

Reg Keys and Martin Bell will be available for interview tomorrow morning Thursday 28 April from 10.00 to 10.30 at the headquarters of the Keys for Sedgefield Campaign - see www.keysforsedgefield.org.uk

NB: Reg Keys, Rose Gentle, John Miller and probably several other bereaved families are seeking legal advice with a view to prosecution of the Prime Minister for the deaths of their relatives. More details tomorrow morning.

ENDS

Contact
Jane Mayes
07748 640 183

by Jane Mayes

Vote for Reg Keys

Keys Calls on Blair to Resign and Tories and Liberal Democrats to Pull Candidates Out in Sedgefield