Tony Blair's crisis seems to be deepening by the hour. Far from making inroads into the top-up fees rebellion, his remarks at the weekend that opposition to the proposal is against the national interest appear to have further inflamed his backbenchers and stiffened their resolve. As the Independent reports, he is under pressure on three fronts -- Iraq's missing WMD, the Hutton inquiry and tuition fees. All three together create a momentum for political collapse. Even if one assumes that Hutton will not deliver a killer blow, and that the WMD issue is more a background grumble than an acute problem, tuition fees is the one issue which has the capacity to do possibly terminal damage. When -- so far into a political storm -- normally loyal backbenchers like Eric Illsley start steaming, it spells big trouble:

'Eric Illsley, the normally loyal MP for Barnsley Central, accused the Prime Minister of talking "crap" when he said in a television interview on Sunday that MPs would betray the national interest if they rejected top-up fees to pay for the expansion in higher education. Mr Illsley said: "If he is going to carry on like this, he ought to stand aside and let someone else have a go." He added: "Who the hell is he to tell me I am betraying the country? It's crap." '

Panic is palpably mounting in Downing Street.

Posted by melanie at January 13, 2004