Blair hit by bosses' revolt

Tony Blair today faced an unprecedented "bosses' revolt" from leaders of the police, nurses and other key public services.

The group, including Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, has sent a toughly-worded letter warning the Prime Minister to back off from his attacks on public service workers as "wreckers".

They also demand ministers stop meddling in hospitals, schools and the like and swamping hard-pressed staff with unnecessary targets, audits, inspections and paperwork. And they challenge the assumption that they need to be "taught lessons" from private enterprise.

The "Dear Prime Minister" letter is signed by Sir John; Dr Beverly Malone, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing; Rabbi Julia Neuberger, chief executive of the King's Fund; Will Hutton, chief executive of the Industrial Society; the chief executive of the London borough of Camden, Steve Bundred, and the boss of the London Development Agency, George Barlow. Mr Hutton is a leading advocate of Mr Blair's third way politics. Dr Malone, a relatively new appointment, has held back from criticism until now.

Their move threatens Mr Blair with a fight on two fronts. Already at odds with the public sector unions, he now faces heavy resistance from the employers as well.

The broadside also arrived, embarrassingly, just as the Prime Minister embarked on an effort to switch the spotlight away from sleaze and back to the public services. Mr Blair, at Chequers today, was preparing for a TV interview tonight on the NHS, and for a big speech to a Labour Party gathering on Friday.

The letter warns that there are "significant problems" in recruiting nurses, teachers and other key staff and in keeping them.

The first and foremost deterrent, it says, "is how public sector workers appear to be valued by politicians and the media".

In a direct reference to Mr Blair's own much-criticised twists and turns over his personal views, it continues: "Despite your recent support for public sector professionalism, all too frequently the actual policies and priorities of politicians give the message that public services are badly managed and need to be taught lessons from the private sector, or at least can be trusted only to carry out tasks set by central government."

Poor starting salaries, the lack of affordable housing and "decaying" transport systems all help to hammer jobs, the signatories say. But they also complain of ever-heavier workloads on staff and "growing, and often uncoordinated requirements for audit, inspection and regulation, and paperwork".

The letter says that a "thorough pruning" of red tape is essential, along with a vigorous attack by ministers on "the esteem problem".

The complaint is bound to be seen as a reflection on the way Mr Blair and other ministers, at Labour's conference in Cardiff last month, assailed public service workers as "wreckers" standing in the way of reform. It also recalls the Prime Minister's famous complaint of "the scars on my back" from dealing with the public sector unions although, in other speeches, he has lavished praise on the work done in the health service and in schools.

The spreading discontent was reflected in a separate attack today from the Chief Constable of Kent, Sir David Phillips. He protested on Radio 4's Today programme at the "huge mixed messages from the Government" to the police.