British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair last night accused Conservative Party leader Mr William Hague and his party of insulting his integrity with their attack on his handling of the Northern peace process.
In a furious response to Tory criticism, the Prime Minister said some Conservatives clearly did not want the peace process to succeed.
"Before we bring this whole thing to a halt we have to think very carefully about it indeed," Mr Blair told the London Times.
"Before people say `Let's pull the whole process to bits' which is effectively what the Conservatives are saying, they should really think about the future of Northern Ireland, the children of Northern Ireland and whether it is really a responsible thing to do.
"I can understand people saying the peace process is wrong, that it is the wrong thing to do and all the rest of it.
"We have a debate about that without language that is insulting to people's basic motives on this."
The Prime Minister said Labour had stuck with the last Conservative government "through thick and thin" in Northern Ireland, when they could have brought it down. But the Conservatives had chosen a "different path".
Responding to Mr Hague's call for prisoner releases to be halted, Mr Blair said: "I simply say that is a big and fundamental step to take. There have been parts of the media and parts of the Conservative Party that have been opposed to this process right from the beginning and they don't want it to succeed and they don't believe in it."
Earlier Mr Hague denied ending the bipartisan policy, despite accusing Mr Blair of a "betrayal of trust" in an attack on his handling of Northern Ireland.