BRIGHTON, England (AFP) - Britain's ruling Labour Party was struggling to shift the pre-election focus to domestic politics, as Prime Minister Tony Blair was called on yet again to defend the war in Iraq.
A day after Blair admitted to the party faithful that Iraq had not possessed any useable weapons of mass destruction ahead of last year's conflict, Labour was hoping to instead trumpet achievements in areas such as crime and health.
The conference in the southern English seaside resort of Brighton is likely to be the last before Labour and Blair try to win a third successive term in office in a general election expected in the middle of next year.
Mindful of the British public's doubts over Iraq, Labour is desperate to fight the election battle on home issues, but the war issue refuses to budge, not least because of fears for Ken Bigley, a British engineer held by Islamic militants in Baghdad since earlier this month.
In a combative interview broadcast Wednesday morning, Blair rejected the view of UN head Kofi Annan that the Iraq war was illegal, also insisting he would be trusted by the British people to take them to war again.
"That's his view," Blair told BBC Radio of Annan's comments earlier this month that the conflict did not comply with the UN charter and was thus illegal, adding: "I don't accept that."
In his address to the Labour gathering on Tuesday, the prime minister admitted mistakes with intelligence about the threat posed by Iraq, but stressed he still thought the war was the correct thing to do.
Speaking on Wednesday, Blair acknowledged his choice to back the US-led conflict to remove Saddam Hussein was "a decision that in terms of let's say popular support has not done me a great deal of good".
But asked whether the public would "laugh" if he tried to persuade them that another country posed a threat and had to be invaded, Blair was bullish.
"I'm afraid I don't accept that people won't trust a judgement that is made provided the evidence is given to them. And of course, it's absolutely right that the evidence given to them has got to be credible," he said.
Wednesday's conference agenda was firmly focused on the domestic front, with Home Secretary David Blunkett due to outline his latest plans to fight crime, while health and education were also due to be discussed.
More exotically, U2 singer and political activist Bono was also due to address delegates to demand action over AIDS and debt in Africa.
For many British newspapers, the Labour congress has also been a focus for a ream of stories detailing Blair's supposed rift with his well-respected finance minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.
A series of newspapers have speculated that Blair could stand down as premier in favour of Brown should Labour win a third term in office, but the prime minister appeared to dismiss this idea on Wednesday.
"I have always said to people that I don't intend doing anything other than lasting the course," he told the GMTV television programme in a another interview.