While President Bush has made it clear in recent speeches that he does not regard a second UN resolution necessary before taking military action against Iraq, his closest ally on the issue, UK Primes Minister Tony Blair is under heavy domestic pressure to secure UN backing. An ICM poll published on 9 March found that 68 per cent of Britons now favour military action against Saddam Hussein, but that 80 per cent of these wanted a second resolution. The UK's Observer newspaper the same day reported that up to 30 UK government ministers were considering resigning in protest if Blair went ahead with military action without UN backing. On 9 March, International Development Secretary Clare Short became the first cabinet minister to threaten resignation. Speaking on the BBC's Westminster Hour radio programme, Short said: 'I will not uphold a breach of international law or this undermining of the UN.' She also launched a damning indictment of Blair's management of the Iraq crisis, alleging that he had been 'reckless with our government, reckless with his own future, position and place in history'.
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