Blair's inner circle 'maps out blaze-of-glory exit'

It would be "reasonable" for Tony Blair to quit as Prime Minister after another 12 months in office, a member of his Cabinet said today.

The Environment Secretary David Miliband, who was also head of the premier's policy unit both in opposition and at No 10 from 1997 to 2001, said Mr Blair would give "ample time" for his successor to take over before the next election.

His comments came after a leaked memo revealed the extent of planning going on among the Prime Minister's closest aides to prepare for his exit.

The Daily Mirror said it had seen the document, which suggests a nationwide tour and appearances on TV programmes such as Blue Peter and Songs Of Praise.

The five-page memo says Mr Blair needs to "go with the crowds wanting more" and adds that he should be mindful the effect his departure will have on the man favoured to succeed him, Chancellor Gordon Brown, according to the paper.

Called "Reconnecting with the public - a new relationship with the media", it was written earlier this year by party polling guru Philip Gould and others including Mr Blair's director of communications David Hill, the newspaper said.

Mr Miliband told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "I think the Prime Minister has been clearer than any other Prime Minister in his position.

"He is not consumed by some great sense that the longer he stays the better. He is committed to make sure he does the right thing by the country and the party. I have known him long enough to believe that to be the case."

He added of Mr Blair's Times interview last week in which he refused to name a departure date: "It said to me exactly what the conventional wisdom is, and the conventional wisdom is that the Prime Minister sees himself carrying on for about another 12 months and it seems to me that conventional wisdom is reasonable.

"I haven't spoken to the Prime Minister about that so that I am not able to give you this from the horse's mouth, but it seems to me that that conventional wisdom is perfectly reasonable.

"I think that this Prime Minister, one of the most remarkable things about him is how little he has been affected by his nine years in Government.

"He is not consumed with this idea of a great imperial procession or whatever it was."

Mr Miliband added: "The Prime Minister is someone who is focused on the real issues facing the country."

Mr Blair will try to focus on social exclusion today in a speech to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in York.

But speculation over his future continues to dog the premier, with two letters said to be circulating among different groups of MPs calling for Mr Blair to lay down a departure timetable.

Today's Daily Mirror says the leaked memo warns: "Time is not an unlimited commodity."

It adds: "As TB enters his final phase he needs to be focusing way beyond the finishing line, not looking at it.

"He needs to go with the crowds wanting more. He should be the star who won't even play that last encore. In moving towards the end he must focus on the future."

It refers to the last month of his premiership, saying, under the heading Last Month: "Needs a daily grid, planned to the last detail.

"As much as possible a farewell tour, looking to the future, making sure the party is in the right place and the public remember him as he should be."

Under a section labelled Threats and Opportunities, it refers to the possible reactions of Gordon Brown.

It says: "There are specific issues which can provide opportunities and threats. They are: GB's reaction... the more successful we are, the more it will agitate and possibly destabilise him. We need to consider how to deal."