Blair 'failed to influence Bush'

5.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 19th Dec 2006

George W. Bush and Tony Blair

The disaster of Iraq and Tony Blair's failure to influence US policy will overshadow his time as Prime Minister, a leading UK think tank, Chatham House, has said. The Chatham House report found that, despite military, political and financial sacrifices by the UK, Mr Blair had been unable to influence the Bush administration in any significant way.

It said there was no evidence British pressure had led to Mr Bush accepting a two-state solution in the Middle East. "Blair has learned the hard way that loyalty in international politics counts for nothing," said Chatham House leader Professor Bulmer-Thomas "And his successor will not make the same mistake of offering unconditional support for US initiatives in foreign policy at the expense of a more positive relationship with Europe."

The report, which assessed British foreign policy since 1997, says Mr Blair's successor would also have to rethink Britain's role within the European Union and distance it from the US. The new prime minister would have to look again at opposition to the euro and the Schengen agreement, which ends controls on international frontiers.