If Tony Blair's stance has made him unpopular with thousands of anti-war protestors, then he can take heart from his constituents in Sedgefield, County Durham as Lindsay Jennings reports

IT was an idyllic spring day. The sun was out and the daffodils were in bloom in Tony Blair's Sedgefield constituency yesterday.

While their local MP spent the day locked in tense meetings, the people of Sedgefield were busy picking their children up from school and paying their bills at the post office. No one envied Mr Blair.

"He can't win really," said Alan Murray, 53.

"Everyone forgets that Saddam Hussein nerve gassed his own people. Yet Tony Blair says 'go in' and he's got however many deaths on his head."

It is a sentiment shared by many in Sedgefield, that Blair is in a no-win situation.

Reg Fletcher, 85, knows only too well the horrors of war, having served in Europe during the Second World War.

"As long as there are people, there'll be wars," he said.

"I agree with the action Tony Blair has taken and I don't know of anyone who could have handled it better. Saddam has had plenty of warning."

While nationally, Blair's rallying speeches have been described as his finest hour, so too in Sedgefield opinions have changed.

While mother-of-two Francine Elliott, 40, admitted she still does not like the Prime Minister, she conceded that he had earned her respect over the past few weeks.

"He's doing a good job. Once you've committed yourself and said you're going to go after someone you can't back down," she said.

Ann Stephenson, 54, was against war. But she said: "For the sake of the Iraqi people something had to be done - otherwise the more civilised countries would have become overrun with refugees."

While Sedgefield people are used to being in the media spotlight, they are concerned that their MP may have made them a possible terrorist target.

"That was one of the first things which crossed my mind when I first heard about the possibility of war," said 19-year-old Laura Jones.

"I feel a bit uneasy if we're in Tony Blair's constituency."

Winifred Hunter, 77, had her scarf wrapped tightly around her head in the chilly March wind.

"I think it's best you don't think about a terrorist attack," said the grandmother-of-five.

"You could frighten yourself to death that way."

21/03/2003