Resignation and threats spark talk of Labour splits

Tony Blair's future as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party was called seriously into question for the first time yesterday as Clare Short's threat of resignation accompanied similar warnings from junior members of the Government.

Andrew Reed, MP for Loughborough, announced he was quitting as parliamentary private secretary to Margaret Beckett, the Environment Secretary, in protest at the deadline being imposed on the weapons inspectors.

Up to 25 other ministerial aides have threatened to follow suit, six of them publicly. Such a mass walkout from government would almost certainly be accompanied by some junior ministers themselves.

Ms Short's unprecedented attack on the Prime Minister's "deeply reckless" approach was like a hand grenade thrown into Downing Street as it struggled to keep the Americans and Security Council on board.

In a carefully orchestrated move, the International Development Secretary contacted the BBC's Westminster Hour programme early yesterday afternoon to tell them she wanted to go on air. The delighted producers lined her up, but even Andrew Rawnsley, the show's host, could not believe the ferocity of her remarks as she warned darkly of the threat to Mr Blair's "future, position and place in history".

As a well-known ally of Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, her words will trigger speculation that a leadership challenge is a serious possibility if a new UN mandate fails to materialise.

Ms Short has in recent weeks increasingly made clear her demand for full UN involvement in the resolution of the Iraq crisis, using both a Commons opposition debate and appearance before the Commons International Development Committee to warn that more needed to be done. She told a cabinet meeting a fortnight ago that a second resolution was essential.

But Downing Street is stunned at her latest broadside as she seemed to be loyally on board. When asked on GMTV's Sunday programme on 23 February if she would remain in the Cabinet if there was unauthorised military action, Ms Short said she was "increasingly hopeful" that Mr Blair would "do the right things".

Mike O'Brien, a Foreign Office minister, said last night that Ms Short should talk to Mr Blair "face to face" instead of going through the media.

Mr Reed became the first government resignation over Iraq when he told his website he didn't want "war in my name at this time".

Other PPSs to express similar doubts included: Anne Campbell, MP for Cambridge and PPS to Patricia Hewitt, the Trade Secretary; Michael Jabez Foster, MP for Hastings and Rye, and PPS to Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General; and Tony Wright, MP for Great Yarmouth and PPS to Ruth Kelly, a Treasury minister.

Others made plain their unhappiness, including Dennis Turner, PPS to Clare Short, Andy Love, PPS to Jacqui Smith, and David Watts, PPS to John Spellar. Two more spoke only off the record.

Ms Hewitt was scathing about Ms Campbell's threat. "I think it is a bit self-indulgent really for people to be talking about resignation in the hypothetical situation that there is no second resolution when the Government is working flat out to get that second resolution," she said on Sky Television.