TRADE union leaders refused to throw their weight behind Gordon Brown as Labour’s next leader yesterday and demanded that he abandon a string of public service reforms as the price of their support.

A procession of union leaders used the eve of the Trades Union Congress in Brighton to back calls for a full leadership election to decide Tony Blair’s successor and made clear that they would use a contest to try to force a change in Labour’s policy direction.

An end to market reforms in the National Health Service, a halt to redundancies in the NHS and Civil Service, and bigger pay rises for public sector workers were among the list of demands made by union general secretaries.

They are flexing their muscles in the knowledge that one third of the votes to elect Labour’s next leader are reserved for their members who contribute to trade union political funds. The cash crisis facing the Labour Party has also left it more dependent than ever on trade union donations.

In another sign of union militancy, members of Unison, the biggest union, are likely today to back strike action in protest at the biggest privatisation of the NHS while PCS, the biggest Civil Service union, threatened a national strike over privatisation and job cuts.

Mr Blair is likely to face a cool reception from delegates in Brighton tomorrow when he makes his valedictory speech to the TUC — an event that he said last week would be a relief for both sides. Yesterday Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, made light of Mr Blair’s comments, saying: “I thought that it was a nicely, gently humorous remark.”

It was the Chancellor who was the chief focus of union leaders’ demands. Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, which represents public service workers, said: “I sincerely believe that without a change in existing policies Labour will not win an historic fourth term.”

The most outspoken attack on Mr Brown came from Mark Serwotka, the leader of PCS. Although not affilitated to Labour, the union represents 320,000 civil servants and is active in the Labour movement.

Mr Serwotka said: “I would find it remarkable if any one of the five or six million people who work in the public services would believe that a Brown premiership would bring better times ahead.”

Members of Unison who work for the NHS’s logistics division — which buys equipment and services — are expected to have voted in favour of a strike after the Government’s announcement that it is to be run by the German parcels group DHL. Unison is seeking a judicial review.

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