Attempting to silence critics of his policy on Iraq, he said Britain should remain Washington's strongest ally as the fight against terrorism was a "global struggle."

"I know there's a bit of us that would like me to do a Hugh Grant in Love Actually and tell America where to get off," he told delegates at Labor's annual conference in Brighton.

"But the difference between a good film and real life is that in real life there's the next day, the next year, the next lifetime to contemplate the ruinous consequences of easy applause."

He added: "I never doubted after Sept. 11 that our place was alongside America and I don't doubt it now."

Such conviction sprung from the fact that terrorism was aimed "at us all, at our way of life," he continued.

Blair acknowledged the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, but said the way to stop the bloodshed was to stand up for their democratic rights. His comments followed last week's apparent breakdown in relations between authorities in Basra, southern Iraq, and British troops controlling the area.

Violence broke out in the city when British forces tried to rescue two special forces soldiers who had been arrested by police. Rioters attacked troops and set their armored vehicles alight, forcing them to withdraw; however a later raid on a house in Basra was successful. The MoD later said the two men had been handed over to Shiite militia.

The unrest sparked a torrent of calls for withdrawal, while some 10,000 people marched on London Saturday in protest at Britain's continued presence in the beleaguered nation. Sir Jeremy Greenstock, formerly Blair's envoy to Iraq, warned Britain might be forced out if the situation became so chaotic there was "no reasonable prospect" of holding it together.

But Blair said: "Yes, several hundred people stoned British troops in Basra. Yes, several thousand run the terrorist insurgency around Baghdad.

"And yes, as a result of the fighting, innocent people tragically die."

However 8.5 million Iraqis had shown which future they wanted when they voted in January's elections, he said.

"And the way to stop the innocent dying is not to retreat, to withdraw, to hand these people over to the mercy of religious fanatics or relics of Saddam, but to stand up for their right to decide their government in the same democratic way the British people do."

Any claims of grievance by terrorists trying to justify their actions were false, he said.

"How dare the terrorists justify their campaign of hate by claiming they are angry about Afghanistan? Was it better under their Taliban?

"They use Iraq and Afghanistan, just as they use the cause of Palestine, whilst trying to destroy by terror the only solution that will ever work: a secure Israel living side-by-side with a viable independent and democratic Palestine."

He continued: "Strip away their fake claims of grievance and see them for what they are: terrorists who use 21st century technology to fight a pre-medieval religious war that is utterly alien to the future of mankind."

While sometimes painful, the only place for Britain to be was at the front, he said, fighting the "progressive cause" of democracy.

Blair's speech provoked mixed reactions among Labor members of Parliament and party activists.

Former Labor leader Lord Neil Kinnock hailed it as Blair's best speech as leader, courageous and packed with progressive policies.

"It was a real speech of leadership, delivered with brilliance," he said.

"Most of all, it explained realities and therefore the reason why he is pursuing the course that he is pursuing."

The timescale for Blair to step down had not changed, he said, predicting he would hand over to Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown a full year before the next election in 2008.

"But everybody's guessing, don't put any money on it."

Hilary Armstrong MP said Blair would have the party's support until he decided to step down.

She denied many in the party were increasingly dissatisfied with his leadership, saying the persistent rumors resulted from the media seizing upon gossip. While some people were pressing for his departure, it was not those leading the party, she said.

Armstrong acknowledged Iraq was a difficult issue but said he had "hit the right note."

"I think it was an inspirational speech," she told United Press International. "There aren't many people I can think of in the world that can deliver a speech like that with the tough challenges that are in it, tough challenges for all of us, but also with a clear leadership about a way forward, and an optimism despite all the difficulties that are facing us."

Others, however, were less impressed.

Graham Bash of Labor's Socialist Campaign Group said any mention of a forward strategy on Iraq was "totally missing" from the speech.

"He's got us into this terrible mess in Iraq, it's becoming more and more untenable, not a word about when he's going to get us out of this, not a word about the terrible responsibility that this government has for putting us all at risk in our cities," he told UPI.

It "beggar's belief" to assert that Britain's involvement in Iraq had nothing to do with the July bombings in London, he said.

Another key question was when Blair would finally step down, he said.

"If we're talking about a fourth term Labor government then we've got to get rid of the biggest liability and impediment we have to that, which is his continuing leadership."

Many within the party felt increasingly despondent at the situation, he said, and more importantly, there was a growing cynicism in the country as a whole.

"I think most people think that Blair lied to us on the war ... it's a crisis of credibility. People are quite cynical outside, and I think there's a bubble here, that we're not aware almost of the degree of anger."

Labor had lost 4 million votes since 1997, he said, and Blair had made no mention of it.

"If we ignore that, the party is going to begin to disintegrate."

Rebel MP Bob Marshall-Andrews agreed that Blair had not sufficiently addressed the issue of Iraq.

Even those who supported the war now felt that some humility was necessary, he told UPI.

"We were wrong, we were grievously misled, that's to say we were wrong about the cause of the war, we were grievously misled about the legality of the war at the time, and people feel pretty frustrated that that was not addressed."

There had been "a total lack of self-analysis" in the speech, Marshall-Andrews added.

Labor was now a very small party compared to what it had been, its share of the vote had been "absolutely decimated," people were very disillusioned and it would have helped had Blair addressed these issues.

The party was very split over such issues, he said, and was not helped by the "dance of the seven veils" that was going on around Blair's departure.

"For the good of all of us he needs to go as soon as possible," he concluded. "It's very bad for politics, very bad for the party, and very bad for the country."

Blair's address, hailed by some as inspirational and decried elsewhere as insubstantial and evasive, has highlighted the depths of internal division within the party. While Blair remains as leader and Iraq continues to fester, it is a rift that is unlikely to be bridged anytime soon.

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