Pressure piles on Blair over Iraq

Pressure on Tony Blair over Iraq intensified today when an Evening Standard poll found a majority of the public opposed sending out more troops.

The stark findings are sure to be seized upon by Mr Blair's critics as he weighs up whether to send a further 3,000 troops to shore up the US-led coalition amid spiralling violence. A decision will be made in the next fortnight.

YouGov found that women in particular were deeply opposed to more lives being put on the line, with 63 per cent against new deployments compared with 22 per cent in favour.

Among men, 48 per cent disagree with sending more troops as against 44 per cent in favour. The poll also shows that 50 per cent of the public want all British troops to be pulled out either immediately or over the next few months.

Some 34 per cent back a withdrawal this year, while 16 per cent think the soldiers should be brought home now. Again, women feel more strongly about withdrawing troops than men.

Overall, the survey shows that 46 per cent of voters are opposed to the Prime Minister's Iraq policy and 36 per cent back him.

Mr Blair is already reeling from the electoral backlash at his policy, with many Labour supporters either staying at home or registering a protest vote in last week's local and European elections. Support for military operations has plummeted since the war, with 45 per cent stating they had originally been in favour of the conflict.

The number of "don't-knows" has also risen from seven per cent to 19 per cent.

Despite the drubbing Labour received in last week's elections, Downing Street believes that the recent UN resolution and new interim government could neutralise Iraq in voters' minds.

But critics warn a large new deployment in the more dangerous area around Najaf could trigger British troop deaths and ensure the issue would dog the Government until the general election.

Ministers' fears that violence will intensify in the run-up to the scheduled handover to the new Iraqi government on 30 June were underlined dramatically on Monday when 13 people, including two Britons, were killed by a car bomb in Baghdad. British troops are scheduled to be withdrawn from Iraq by 31 December 2005, when the new Iraqi constitution should be in place.

But Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has already made clear that they could be asked to stay on.

The YouGov online poll of 1,517 respondents was conducted on 7 & 8 June