Blair faces new Cabinet trouble

Tony Blair today faced mutiny from his Cabinet and his party on his return from a disheartening EU summit in Barcelona.

The latest trouble flared with a strong signal from International Development Secretary Clare Short that she would resign from the Cabinet if Britain joins military action against Iraq.

Ms Short's warning was the strongest sign yet of Cabinet dissent. At the same time, Mr Blair's rank and file MPs were poised in massive numbers to mount a virtual revolt in the Commons.

By an overwhelming majority, the MPs are set tonight to back an outright ban on hunting with dogs. The vote is officially "free", allowing ministers and MPs to vote according to their consciences. But all sides believe Mr Blair would prefer the Commons to back the so-called middle way, to allow hunting to continue under licence and subject to strict rules. Mr Blair himself is expected to vote formally in favour of a ban tonight but that was seen as no more than a token. The Left is also unhappy at the continuing rows between Mr Blair and the unions, which erupted again to overshadow the EU summit at the weekend.

Ms Short yesterday put the Prime Minister on notice that a large section of the party would not tolerate what she called "a blind military attack" to topple Saddam Hussein. Speaking on the BBC's On The Record programme she said she did not expect the Government to back a US-led attack on terms which she and others would find intolerable. She did not believe that Mr Blair was going to do "the wrong thing". But she went on: "We have all got to have our bottom lines. That's about being a member of the Government."

More than 100 Labour MPs have signed a Commons motion warning against military strikes. It emerged over the weekend that even those more ready to contemplate an attack, among them Home Secretary David Blunkett, are worried that action could spark serious trouble among ethnic minorities in this country.

Before tonight's hunting debate, Mr Blair was scheduled to make a statement in the Commons on the summit at Barcelona, which achieved little progress in its stated aim of EU reform. The Prime Minister let his own feelings show when he mockingly described the event as "a joy".