Blair takes to the road again

Tony Blair is to hit the travel trail again, spanning at least four continents, despite demands to deal with problems back home.

Mr Blair this afternoon addresses the Commons for the first time this year, following his five-day trip to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He faces Conservative charges that, with the rail system in near collapse, the health service in continuing difficulty and other, urgent tasks, he should have stuck to his heavy domestic agenda.

Some Labour MPs have voiced similar concerns in public, and many more in private. Despite that, it was confirmed today that the Prime Minister intends to press ahead with plans for a lengthy trip to Africa next month. In March, he will travel to Australia for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. He will also attend a Euro summit in Barcelona.

In June, he will be in Spain again for another EU gathering. And he will fly to Canada for the G8 summit of developed nations. There are also likely to be a number of shorter visits to key EU partners, as well as a possible further trip to Washington.

Mr Blair and his aides have strongly defended his travels, arguing that it is in Britain's interest to win partners and to ensure support for the international battles against terrorism, crime and drugs.

Mr Blair maintains he is in no way neglecting problems back home, declaring in a party political broadcast yesterday that reform of the public services remains his key objective. Downing Street has also stressed that the past four months, since 11 September, have been a highly unusual period which has meant a far more urgent international effort.

Meanwhile, the Government today increased the pressure on Zimbabwe, suggesting that the Commonwealth could take action if President Robert Mugabe pushes through new laws to curb free speech and handcuff political opposition. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned that Britain would press for Zimbabwe to be suspended if conditions continued to deteriorate. Mr Mugabe is pushing a Bill through the Harare parliament today which would allow him to jail journalists who practised "unethical journalism".