Blair tells Cabinet he will quit

tony blair has just reported he will be leaving soon
he is to make a speech on his retirement plans at 1145 BST.

bbc
Tony Blair is travelling to his Sedgefield constituency where he will make public his plans to stand down as Labour leader and prime minister.
Mr Blair has already briefed the Cabinet on when he will quit, with his likely successor Gordon Brown reportedly paying tribute to him.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said it had been a "cordial, comradely" meeting with "quite a lot of laughter".

Mr Blair will stay on for seven weeks until a new Labour leader is chosen.

A Cabinet source told the BBC "Gordon Brown made a short and very moving tribute to Tony Blair's leadership, not just of Labour and the United Kingdom but also of the world".

Mr Hain, who is a candidate for Labour's deputy leadership, said Mr Brown would now "take up Tony Blair's mantle in the next period of our government".

Mr Blair is expected to make a speech on his retirement plans at 1145 BST.

Though this thread was first the other thread has already gained a reply and a direction of discussion:

Wednesday 27th June 2007 - Blair to stand down

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