Iraq and the fate of a British hostage are threatening to thwart Prime Minister Tony Blair?s efforts to put domestic issues centre stage today as Chancellor Gordon Brown prepares to rally the Labour Party faithful.

Brown, in a keynote address to Labour?s annual conference, will urge the party to put a stable and strong economy at the heart of its campaign for a third term ahead of an election expected in May 2005.

Brown ? widely held to be prime minister-in-waiting ? will be closely watched for signs of a rift with Blair amid frantic speculation of a feud between the two most powerful men in British politics. But on Iraq, the most divisive issue of Blair?s premiership, Brown will pledge solidarity.

The war split Labour and ravaged Blair?s public trust and popularity ratings, even prompting talk of his resignation.

Blair had hoped to use the conference to refocus on domestic policy but the kidnapping in Iraq of Kenneth Bigley, a 62-year-old contractor, has revived anti-war sentiment and kept the war and its violent aftermath firmly on the agenda.

?Our thoughts are with Ken Bigley and the Bigley family and I think Tony Blair needs and will have all our support in all the difficult times over Iraq,? Brown told Sky News yesterday.

Pressure mounted on Blair yesterday over Iraq and Bigley, whose captors have threatened to behead him. ?I think his sell-by date has gone and he has to go ? there has to be a change of face, a change of policy, a change of dialogue,? said the hostage?s brother, Paul Bigley, a day after he addressed a packed anti-war fringe meeting via telephone from the Netherlands.

Blair, who has refused to apologise for backing the US - led invasion, faces a potentially embarrassing debate on Iraq by delegates on Thursday, the last day of the conference in the southern coastal resort of Brighton. Anti-war Labour members promise to be vocal.

Labour parliamentarian Robin Cook, who resigned from government over the war, urged Blair yesterday to rule out taking pre-emptive military action again, based on intelligence. ?People who opposed the war are concerned about voting for Tony Blair when they think he might do it again,? Cook told BBC Radio. ?He needs to say: ?I understand mistakes were made, we?ve learned lessons and it won?t happen that way again.?

Opinion polls show Labour is poised to win a third term but voter unrest over Iraq and disillusionment with the government could slash the party?s huge parliamentary majority.

In a poll in The Times newspaper, 64 percent of voters said Blair had not been a good prime minister, but the same percentage preferred him to opposition Conservative Party leader Michael Howard. Blair is also under fire over his relationship with Brown.

Labour folklore has it that the two made a pact under which Blair agreed to hand over the premiership to Brown. Blair says no deal was struck but Brown refuses to confirm or deny an agreement.

?I?m not going to talk about these things now,? Brown said when asked on Sky about his ambitions to be premier. ?Tony Blair is the prime minister.?

In his speech, Brown will state economic prosperity remains the key to a third election victory and detail policies to allow Britain to meet the ?global economic challenge? of high-growth, low-cost economies like China and India.

<B>Katherine BALDWIN</B>

<B>Blair?s policy slate for Britain </B>

Prime Minister Tony Blair?s Labour Party holds its annual conference this week, a crucial forum with a British general election expected in 2005. Following is a breakdown of some policies Blair is expected to pursue if he wins a third term in power ? what is already known, what is likely and when it may be introduced.

EU CONSTITUTION: Blair, by declaring he will hold a referendum on the new European Union constitution, has done his best to neutralise Europe as an issue among eurosceptic voters. When the time comes, Blair will campaign for a ?Yes? vote that polls suggest will be hard to come by, but not until 2006. On the more pivotal issue ? whether Britain should adopt the euro ? any decision, which would again go to a referendum, is probably years away. Britain will hold the EU presidency in the second half of 2005 and will press for further economic reform in the bloc. EMPLOYMENT: Britons work the longest hours in Europe. ?Work-life? balance is one of the big ideas pushed by Labour strategists. The party will make four weeks? annual paid holiday a legal minimum, in addition to eight public holidays. Two weeks? paid paternity leave could be offered, while paid maternity leave could be extended beyond six months. The right to flexible working may also be extended. ENVIRONMENT: He has three aims ? to reach consensus among the G8 on what causes climate change, to agree on measures to tackle it and to persuade other countries like China and India to act. His government is committed to achieving a 60 percent cut in carbon emissions in Britain by 2050.