British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for an end to speculation about when he will leave office, sparking renewed calls on Friday for a departure timetable from critics within his party.
Blair has faced constant pressure about when he will step down after he pledged before winning a third successive general election last year that he would not seek a fourth term.
With his popularity plunging, calls have grown within the Labour Party for Blair to set a date for handing over power to his expected successor, finance minister Gordon Brown. However the Times said Blair declined to name a departure date in an interview with the newspaper published on Friday and ruled out saying more on the subject either before or during the Labour Party annual conference that opens on September 24.
"I have done what no other prime minister has done before me. I've said I'm not going to go on and on and on, and said I'll leave ample time for my successor. Now at some point I think people have to accept that as a reasonable proposition and let me get on with the job," Blair said.
"I think if it is speculation that people are worried about, there is a simple answer - stop speculating," said Blair, who has just returned from a Caribbean holiday.
Labour parliamentarian and former minister Andrew Smith said there was widespread concern among Labour lawmakers, voters and the cabinet that the speculation was damaging the party's chances of winning a record fourth consecutive election.
"I believe the public as well as the party will be looking for a much clearer sense of direction and timing because the leadership issue does have to be sorted out," he told the BBC.
Blair, in office for nine years, said members of parliament who "carried on and on" about his leadership really wanted the party to change direction away from his free-market "New Labour" policies, The Times quoted him as saying.
Staunch Blair ally David Blunkett called on Labour critics to put forward the policies they wanted the party to pursue, rather than speculating about a departure date because the prime minister would stick by his word.
"I'm absolutely certain that discussions have taken place with very, very senior colleagues ensuring that there will be a lengthy period before that general election date has to be chosen," Blunkett told BBC radio.
Despite Blair's refusal to give a timetable, the Guardian newspaper quoted sources as saying that Blair's "current thinking" was that he would stand down in the summer of 2007. Blair, 53, will have served 10 years by then and it would give a successor up to three years in office before the next general election must be held. Blair promised in May to give his successor ample time to settle in before the election.
Blair's popularity has plunged after a series of government scandals over sleaze, mismanagement and foreign policy. He has faced sharp criticism - some of it from Labour politicians - for failing initially to call for an immediate cease-fire in the war between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas.
A poll in the Guardian last week said Britain's opposition Conservatives, under leader David Cameron, had opened a nine-point lead over Labour - enough to give them a slim parliamentary majority if repeated at a general election.
Another Labour lawmaker said speculation about Blair's departure would not go away.
"Unfortunately his refusal to discuss the issue will dominate the conference," said Labour parliamentarian Clive Betts. "I just think it's unhelpful."
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