LABOUR is on the brink of civil war today after rebel MPs were accused by ministers and Downing Street of a plot to force Tony Blair out now and return the party to the hands of the Left.

As the party descends into its most poisonous bout of infighting for a generation following its dismal performance in the local elections, Tony Blair will refuse mounting demands for him to name a day for his departure from No 10. He will say at a speedily arranged monthly press conference that he has no intention of allowing his hand to be forced by a group that wants to reverse Labour’s reforms and go back to an “Old Labour” agenda.

But his fightback, in which John Reid, the new Home Secretary, played a prominent part, was denounced by supporters of Gordon Brown. They said that it was madness to claim that the people who wanted the Prime Minister to set out a broad timetable for the transition to Mr Brown were “loony leftwingers”, and that that view was shared across the party.

A survey of backbench opinion conducted by The Times supports their argument. Three quarters of the MPs contacted wanted Mr Blair to set out a timetable which would see him leave before the end of next year.

Mr Brown, angry at what he regards as a factional reshuffle in which the Prime Minister moved against ministers who were seen as sympathetic to him, made an open call for Mr Blair to engage in talks about handing over the leadership. He should be allowed to “organise” the transition, Mr Brown said in a BBC interview.

Mr Blair is unwilling to give Mr Brown a date, saying that suich a move would play into the hands of the Conservatives, but associates say that he will give the Chancellor ample time to bed in as Prime Minister before the next election.

However, in the feverish mood among MPs there was speculation of a move against Mr Blair, which would include some Brownites, if he did not produce a timetable before the summer parliamentary recess in July.

The claim of a move to unseat Mr Blair came first in a text message to journalists from David Hill, his communications chief, but it was rapidly picked up by other leading Blairites.

Stephen Byers, the former Transport Secretary, said: “If we want to have an orderly transition, what we cannot have is the forced removal of Tony Blair as our leader.” Hilary Armstrong, the Social Exclusion Minister, said: “Setting a timetable is exactly what the Tories want.”

The most outspoken was Dr Reid, who said that one “did not have to be Sherlock Holmes” to know there was an Old Labour plot going on. He said of the plotters: “They are not going to win.”

A change of direction and abandoning the New Labour project would lead the party into the “wilderness”, he told BBC One’s The Politics Show. “The whole thing has been generated by people who want to push Blair out. They want to stop the reform programme and they want to change direction back to old Labour. That would be complete catastrophe for the Labour Government and the Labour Party.

“There is no going back for this party. If we go back we are walking into the wilderness.”

Setting a date for the handover was a “total irrelevance” and would hand David Cameron’s Tories a “big advantage”, Mr Reid said.

However, Andrew Smith, the Brownite former Work and Pensions Secretary, was outraged by the attacks. He said: “I am furious — and the party will be furious — about attempts to stifle or stop the discussion which needs to be had about the timetable for the orderly transition of leadership, which is what we need and what party members want so that we can get the renewal of the Labour Party.”

Other Brownites said the strategy was “bonkers”. One of them said: “They are talking about a plot. They’ve lost the plot — all of them.”

Mr Brown said that the local election results had been a “wake-up call” and, in a clear message to Mr Blair and his supporters, added that it could not be “business as usual”. He made clear that he wanted a unified transition and that a coup would be a “recipe for disaster.”

He disclosed that the Prime Minister was talking about the transition and that he did not need “outriders dictating the agenda”. That was a sideswipe at Blairites who have repeatedly suggested that Mr Blair should serve for a full term.

The Chancellor added that, in “the next stage of my political career”, he would ensure that new Labour broadened its coalition. He did not know when Mr Blair would quit. “It is a matter for Tony and the Labour Party themselves, and no doubt people will continue to discuss this with him.

“But at the end of the day I get on with my job.”

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