LONDON — Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair has decided to put off calling a general election set for May 3 because of the country's foot-and-mouth crisis, political sources said on Sunday.
The sources said after a weekend of agonizing over the issue at his official country estate, Blair decided to gamble that his Labor Party's big lead in opinion polls would stand up better if he did not go to the electorate at a time of national crisis.
The 6-week-old foot-and-mouth epidemic has already led to the preventive slaughter of hundreds of thousands of mainly sheep and pigs and turned large areas of the countryside into quarantined "no-go" areas.
It has led to export bans, cost millions of dollars in lost tourism and spread to Ireland, France and the Netherlands.
The number of confirmed cases of the disease jumped several dozen to 895 on Sunday, and Blair was considering whether to use vaccination, in addition to slaughtering animals, to stop it. The Cheltenham horse racing festival, already once postponed, was canceled for the season.
Foot-and-mouth, which causes blisters and weight loss in animals, is not a threat to human beings. It is easily spread by contact between animals, on clothing and even on the wind.
Political sources told Reuters the trigger for putting off the general election would be postponing local elections, already set by legislation for May 3. The announcement of a postponement of local elections was expected today.
"My judgment is he will not call the general election tonight or tomorrow or in the coming week either," one political source said. Blair would have to act this week if he were to call a general election for May 3.
Downing Street, hunkered down under reports of a delay from Britain's mainstream media, said only that the "prime minister will act in the best interest of the whole country."
But Foreign Secretary Robin Cook all but acknowledged a postponement was on the cards.
"We can fight the election at any time, the important thing is that we pick the right time for the nation," Cook told ITN.
"I can well understand why he (Blair) may well come to the view that we need some more time to make sure we've got in place the message, the mechanism, the resources to cope with the foot-and-mouth outbreak before we go to the country," Cook said.
He stressed the disease did not necessarily have to be over in Britain before an election could be held. "It means we have to be sure we've got in place the mechanisms to deal with it."
Blair could aim for a new date of June 7, but this could also slip depending on events.
There was praise for Blair's decision in the media.
"Mr Blair has a rare opportunity to do the right thing by concentrating on solving a national crisis while putting party politics aside," The Sunday Times said.
"Whatever the outcome of the election he is right to delay."
It will mark the first time since World War Two that elections have been suspended because of a national crisis, and a reversal of what Blair had been saying in recent days.
The decision to call an election is Blair's alone. Elected by a landslide in May 1997, he can wait until as late as May 2002 to bring voters back to the polls.
An opinion poll in the Sunday Telegraph suggested Blair's decision to delay is right, with 60 percent wanting a later poll. Labour's lead over the Conservatives has slipped three points to 48 percent with the Tories on 32 and the third party Liberal Democrats on 15.