Labour's fragile peace is shattered

THE fragile truce between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown was dramatically shattered yesterday when supporters from the rival factions mounted attacks on each other, dashing any prospect of a peaceful handover.

Past and present ministers lined up to warn Mr Brown he could not assume he would inherit the premiership unimpeded. Mr Brown's supporters retaliated, saying Mr Blair should resign before Christmas. And in a move destined to add fuel to the fire, the Prime Minister will today make a speech on the "way forward" for the country, in what Labour insiders believe is a deliberate attempt to tie Mr Brown to the Blairite agenda.

First to fire a shot yesterday was Charles Clarke, the former home secretary, who accused Mr Brown of "absolutely stupid" behaviour during the leadership crisis and said support for him to succeed Mr Blair had to be conditional. Then, despite calls from Cabinet colleagues to hold his tongue over the matter, Mr Clarke went even further last night, branding Mr Brown a deluded "control freak" with "psychological" issues who cannot work with other people.

His intervention blows away Mr Blair's hopes his announcement on Thursday that he would resign as Prime Minister within 12 months would bring an end to the feuding. The one-time Cabinet bruiser also suggested the former health secretary Alan Milburn, a Blairite, was "leadership material".

On Wednesday, after eight members of the government resigned and a war of words broke out between Mr Blair and Mr Brown, the latter was photographed grinning triumphantly. That, Mr Clarke said, had angered many people.

Frank Field, the former welfare minister, agreed Mr Brown's conduct over the past week had "troubled" him as he accused the Chancellor of failing to stop the "near-destruction" of the government. John Reid, the Home Secretary, and Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary were both more suitable to lead the country than the Chancellor, he said.

In a furious counter-attack, Frank Dobson, a former health secretary, called on Mr Blair to stand down immediately. He also accused Mr Milburn of making a "terrible mess" of the NHS and of briefing against Mr Brown.

Mr Blair should go out on a high in November, when Northern Ireland's devolution deadline loomed, Mr Dobson said in an interview to be broadcast on GMTV's Sunday programme. "There wasn't much point in having a timetable, unless it was a sort of two-month timetable because it'd be like putting everybody under starters orders but not firing the starting gun," he said.

Tom Watson, an ally of the Chancellor who resigned as defence minister, also denied Mr Brown had been behind a plot to bounce Mr Blair into resigning. In an interview with The Stirrer, a website, Mr Watson said the Prime Minister was a liability for the party. "Whether or not you backed him over Iraq ... people's trust in him had gone, and it was affecting our ability to get our message across." Mr Watson also insisted he thought his letter would remain private.

The day of briefing and counter-briefing led to Harriet Harman, the Constitutional Affairs Secretary, to call for her colleagues to "shut up". Ms Harman, who wants to be the party's deputy leader under Mr Brown, also insisted the Chancellor would make a fine prime minister. The Chancellor will give an interview on the BBC tomorrow on Andrew Marr's programme, where he is expected to answer his critics.