Blair overruled his own Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett by saying the arms flights would continue. Beckett had earlier condemned the flights and voice her opposition to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Blair's continuing support for Bush has earned him a severe backlash from members of his own Labor Party who had been vocal Blair supporters.
Members of the Scottish Parliament, particularly Scottish National Party members, are calling on the Scottish government to ban the U.S. flights from Scotland, a move that could result in a constitutional crisis between London and Edinburgh. Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish Nationalists, said, "called on the Labour-LibDem [Liberal Democratic] Scottish Executive to step back from its role as an accessory to the escalation of violence in the Middle East by using its own transport powers to prevent such flights and get behind the overwhelming calls from the rest of the world for an immediate ceasefire to the conflict."
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