SOUTH Swindon's Labour candidate has come under fire for refusing to say whether she supports Tony Blair's decision to invade Iraq.

Anne Snelgrove is one of 17 new Labour candidates who are refusing to state whether they agree with the war.

Ms Snelgrove was asked to state her views as part of a national survey of Labour's 48 candidates who are defending seats in which an MP is standing down.

The survey found that only four candidates would publicly back the Prime Minister's decision.

Two of the four said they had grave reservations.

Ms Snelgrove yesterday said she refused to answer the The Times' questions because she believed the newspaper was on a "fishing exercise" to write an "anti Labour" article.

But when the Evening Advertiser asked whether she supported the decision to go to war she again refused to be drawn.

"My answer is that I think we should move on. I have said that in public meetings and I will no doubt be saying it again. I also wasn't in parliament at the time.

"I am really glad the Iraqi people have had free and fair elections. In 1991 (during the first Gulf War) I do not think we went far enough.

"I am aware that people want to pin me down on this because they just want to have a go at me.

"It doesn't do any good to anyone to flagellate myself in public over something I wasn't there at the time to do anything about."

Liberal Democrat Charles Kennedy said the candidates who disagree with the war should refuse to stand for Labour.

"The silence of these candidates suggests that they share the judgement of many in this country that the Prime Minister made an appalling error of judgement in going to war in Iraq. They cannot just shrug that off."

Tory co-chairman Liam Fox added: "At a time when people are crying out for greater trust in their politicians, these New Labour underlings are proving even more slippery than the ones they are hoping to replace."