Both the Prime Minister and President Bush will exert maximum pressure on Russia over the next two days to try to dissuade it from exercising its veto. Both leaders have already made private appeals to President Putin and there are certain to be more.
Britain believes that France is desperate to avoid the issue coming to a vote in the Security Council. They point out that the French have been desperately lobbying the African countries to vote down the resolution so that they do not have to veto it.
The mood of impending conflict hardened as Mr Blair called key ministers, including Jack Straw, Mr Hoon, and Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney-General, to Downing Street, along with Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, the Chief of Defence Staff..
Mr Blair and Mr Bush were calling world leaders all day. Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor, will visit Mr Blair today.
Yesterday trade union leaders had a regular meeting with Mr Blair at No 10. They apparently told him that a second resolution was vital but dismissed suggestions by Labour leftwingers that they might stage an early special conference of the Labour Party to callfor a leadership election.
The Prime Minister responded to Paris and Moscow’s threat that they were ready to block a new resolution with a warning of his own about the dangers of driving a wedge between Europe and America.
In barbed comments, apparently aimed at President Chirac, he said that seeking easy applause by making a show of “standing up to America” could have damaging consequences for the international community.
He said: “When you really think about it, dividing Europe from America, an alliance that has served us well for over half a century, would be a very, very dangerous thing to do.”