London: British Prime Minister Tony Blair told his monthly news conference that to set a date for his retirement would "paralyze" the working of his government.
He warned critics within his own party who have called for him to name a date for his resignation that any attempt to reverse the New Labour project would consign the party to electoral defeat and opposition.
"To state a timetable now would simply paralyse the proper working of government, put at risk the necessary changes we are making for Britain and damage the country," Blair said in his regular monthly news briefing at 10 Downing Street.
"It wouldn't end this distraction, but take it to a new level."
Blair, 53 this week, faced a barrage of questions from reporters about demands within the governing party that he set a date for leaving his job.
Senior allies of the prime minister have urged party members to calm down, following its third-place showing in local elections last week and a wide-ranging shakeup of Blair's Cabinet.
Later Monday he was to face what looked like being a tense meeting with Labour members of the House of Commons, where some were likely to press again for a retirement timetable.
Blair has made clear he will stand down before the next election. He has said he will serve a full third term, but repeatedly refused to say exactly what that meant.
He told the news conference he had no intention of "going on and on" -- recalling the words of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was eventually forced out of office after 11 years.
Backbench Labour MPs say he must make clear when he plans to go. A draft letter, thought to have the support of around 50 MPs, says Blair should be given until summer to lay out a clear timetable for the handover of power to his likely successor, Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) Gordon Brown.
Blair loyalists have accused rebel Labour MPs of a coup to topple the British PM.
Former Transport Secretary Stephen Byers told Sky TV: "If we want to have an orderly transition, what we cannot have is the forced removal of Tony Blair as our leader."
Meanwhile Blair dismissed suggestions that Jack Straw was sacked as Foreign Secretary over policy towards Iran as "utterly absurd."
The Prime Minister said Straw was an "outstanding figure" who was the best person to drive the government's reforms through the Commons as Leader of the House.
His comments follow claims that Straw's demotion was a consequence of him ruling out military action against Iran.
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