TONY BLAIR admitted yesterday that he had underestimated the difficulties that British troops would face in Iraq.

The Prime Minister denied reports that Britain had set a timetable to start pulling out troops in May and insisted “no arbitrary date” had been set.

But he was spared the potential embarrassment of a bust-up over the Iraq war on the conference floor later this week when delegates failed to choose it as one of their urgent motions. The proposal to debate Iraq came sixth in a ballot of delegates, with only the first four topics allowed to be heard; housing, sexual equality, pensions and the NHS.

Speaking on BBC One, Mr Blair admitted: “I did not expect quite the same ferocity from every single element in the Middle East that came in and was doing their best to disrupt the political process. But I have absolutely no doubt as to what we should do. We should stick with it.”

John Reid, the Defence Secretary, denied a newspaper report that a withdrawal was being planned for May. He said that British troops would only leave once Iraqi security forces were ready to take over.

“When that condition has been met we will hand over the lead in counter-terrorism to the Iraqis,” he said. “There will then be a process . . . where they gradually take the lead, we gradually withdraw to barracks and we gradually withdraw from Iraq itself. At that stage, when the conditions have been met, we will withdraw. And I said that is possible to start in some parts of the country . . . in the course of next year.”

Mr Blair defended the action taken to rescue two captured British soldiers last week. “We will do whatever is necessary to protect our troops in any situation,” he said. Asked if Britain would accept arrest warrants for the soldiers, Mr Blair said: “No, absolutely not.”

A proposal for a motion paying tribute to the late Robin Cook, seen by party managers as a Trojan horse to discuss Iraq at the the conference, was ruled out of order as an urgent motion before the vote.

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