Tony Blair is ready to announce that he will step down next year, probably around his 10th anniversary in Downing Street in May. Senior Blairite MPs said that high-level discussions were going on to prepare for a transition to an expected Gordon Brown premiership. If Mr Blair announced a timetable at or shortly before Labour's annual conference at the end of September it would defuse the growing restlessness in the party over the succession. Mr Blair could use the conference to acclaim his record while paving the way for a new leader to take on the challenge of the rejuvenated Conservative Party led by David Cameron.Yesterday the Prime Minister brushed aside Charles Clarke's accusation that the Government was lacking leadership and direction. He described the former home secretary as "a disappointed man" and rejected claims that the attack could hasten his exit from No 10.
He dismissed suggestions that the attack was Mr Clarke's "Geoffrey Howe moment", a reference to events that brought about Margaret Thatcher's downfall in 1990. He described it as "surface noise" that governments always faced. "What we should do is just calm down, hold and get on with governing," he said. Labour MPs feel certain that Mr Blair has made up his mind to go next spring. Everybody at No 10 believes that he will be gone within a year and acknowledges that power and authority is haemorrhaging away.