Every police officer in Britain will vote on whether they want to seek the right to strike, it was announced today.

A thousand delegates from across the UK meeting at an emergency Police Federation conference also passed a vote of no-confidence in Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, and called for her immediate resignation.

The developments, which come after Ms Smith reneged on an agreed police pay deal, will put the Government under even greater pressure in the intensifying dispute.

Alan Gordon, vice chairman of the Police Federation, said: "We will be balloting our members in the New Year. The exact terminology has not been agreed but it will address the issue that industrial rights do not exist for our members and whether that breaches their human rights."

He added: "We would also like to say that Jacqui Smith has a very marginal seat and a large number of police officers live in her constituency."

Police are barred by an Act of Parliament from going on strike and the ballot will ask if they want to lobby to have that law changed.

Gordon Brown was forced to defend Ms Smith's decision to effectively cut the pay rise from 2.5 per cent to 1.9 per cent by refusing to backdate it to September at Prime Minister's Questions today. Mr Brown told MPs that the Government would not go back on the decision .

Mr Brown said that plans to increase police numbers had been scrapped in Scotland where, to the chagrin of those in England and Wales, officers will still receive the pay rise in full. The Prime Minister added that police pay had gone up by 39 per cent over the last 10 years.

"In Scotland, to pay the police more, the planned increase of 500 policemen has been suspended," the Prime Minister said, replying to a question by Michael Fabricant, a Conservative MP.

"I know what my constituents and your constituents would prefer more: that there were police on the streets. And we have more police in this country, on the streets helping us than at any time in our history."

Mr Brown added: "I would like more than anybody to be able to say to the police that we could pay their wages and their salary rise in full.

"But I have to say to them that no policeman and no person would thank us if their pay rise was wiped out by inflation."

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