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No 10 to lobby for Blair EU job No 10 to lobby for Blair EU job
(about 1 hour later)
Gordon Brown is to actively lobby for his predecessor Tony Blair to be named the first president of the European Council, No 10 sources have said.Gordon Brown is to actively lobby for his predecessor Tony Blair to be named the first president of the European Council, No 10 sources have said.
Downing Street has previously denied reports it was canvassing for the ex-prime minister to get the job, to be created under the new Lisbon Treaty.Downing Street has previously denied reports it was canvassing for the ex-prime minister to get the job, to be created under the new Lisbon Treaty.
But the BBC now understands Mr Brown will put the case to other EU leaders in Brussels later this week.But the BBC now understands Mr Brown will put the case to other EU leaders in Brussels later this week.
The Tories and Lib Dems are adamant Mr Blair should not get the job.The Tories and Lib Dems are adamant Mr Blair should not get the job.
Earlier, Conservative leader David Cameron, who opposes the treaty and the new post, said: "We don't support Tony Blair in that role even if there is a president."
Meanwhile, it is understood that Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg will on Wednesday publicly declare his opposition to Mr Blair's appointment.
BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said Mr Clegg supports the European project but does not feel Mr Blair is the right man for the job.
'Too far'
There is pressure on Mr Blair to confirm he is in the running for the newly created post of president of the European Council, amid opposition to his candidacy among some smaller European states.
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are reportedly among smaller countries that believe the president should come from a country that uses the euro and is part of the border-free Schengen Agreement.
Mr Blair has not declared his candidacy for the new EU post
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has backed Mr Blair, but there are reports French President Nicolas Sarkozy is cooling on the idea and it is not known who German Chancellor Angela Merkel would support.
At a press conference Mr Cameron was asked if he had spoken to European leaders about his opposition to Mr Blair's candidacy, Mr Cameron said shadow foreign secretary William Hague had made the party's position "very clear".
He said the new role would take Europe "too far in creating the emblems of statehood rather than being about co-operation and co-ordination".
But he said if there was to be a president he would prefer it to be a more "chairmanic" role "rather than some all-singing, all-dancing, all-acting president and I think I can see what sort of president Tony Blair would be".
Mr Hague reportedly told Berlin and Paris that the Tories would take Mr Blair's appointment as a "hostile act" against a future Conservative government - which Mr Cameron did not deny.
Green Party leader and MEP Caroline Lucas said the idea that Mr Blair should take on the role was "absurd".
The reports of Mr Brown's backing comes after British ministers have been talking up the former PM's credentials, ahead of the summit.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "It's not a time for shy retiring violets... Europe needs a strong, persuasive, articulate advocate."
But former foreign secretary Lord Owen criticised Mr Blair's handling of the Iraq war: "I believe that disqualification from high office follows if you do not tell the truth to the House of Commons on a very serious question like going to war.