Blair rebuffed as rift with Bush deepens

A rift between Tony Blair and George W Bush is set to deepen this week as the United States administration rejects British calls to be spared from steel tariffs.

Washington lobbyists expect the US to grant only a fifth of the exemptions to the ban on British imports for which Mr Blair has lobbied.

The rebuff will come after the most public split between Washington and London over how to deal with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

Although Downing Street officials are playing down the clash between Mr Blair and President Bush at the G8 summit meeting in Calgary, Canada, they are braced for a further downturn in the so-called "special relationship" as the tariff exemption deadline expires on Wednesday.

If, as expected, the import ban is largely maintained, the European Union is preparing counter-measures to undermine Mr Bush's Republicans in this year's elections.

"The Government needs more than it has got," said one Whitehall official. "Time is rapidly running out." Without significant concessions from Washington, Britain will be forced to support EU retaliation, he said.