Defection hits Blair

The Iraq war refused to die down as an election issue as a veteran Labour MP today defected to the Liberal Democrats in protest at Tony Blair's "lies".

Brian Sedgemore, who is standing down after 27 years in the Commons, joined Charles Kennedy to urge voters to give Mr Blair "a bloody nose" on election day.

In a sign that the Government is rattled over the issue, it emerged today that Deputy Prime Minister-John Prescott has written to the BBC to complain about its "skewed" coverage of Iraq.

Mr Prescott's letter to director general Mark Thompson has clear echoes of the attack on the BBC by Alastair Campbell in 2003, part of a series of events that ended with the Hutton report. Robin Cook, writing in today's Evening Standard, urged Mr Blair to draw the sting from the controversy over the legality of the war by publishing the Attorney General's secret advice. He said he was "livid" that Lord Goldsmith had not given a lecture explaining his reasoning.

The Liberal Democrats sought to make maximum political capital out of Mr Sedgemore's defection as Mr Kennedy called on "principled" voters to back his party on 5 May. In a switch of tactics, the Lib-Dem leader suggested it was safe for those on the Left to protest against Labour because there was no longer a danger of the Tories winning.

Latest polls show the Tories trailing with an NOP survey for the Independent putting Labour on 40 per cent, the Conservatives on 30 per cent and the Lib-Dems on 21 per cent.

Mr Sedgemore said there was a group of MPs who were "fed up" enough to quit Labour after the election. He refused to name names but said that some rebels were not standing again for Parliament and some were. "You're going to have to do a mole hunt," he said.

Among the suspects would be Mr Marshall-Andrews, one of Mr Sedgemore's close friends, who today said Labour "would be a better party" without Mr Blair. He said he understood Mr Sedgemore's decision but said he wanted to stay with Labour.

Mr Sedgmore added that the Liberal Democrats would not win the election but they deserved to win 100 seats to send a message to Mr Blair.

The outgoing MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he had "snapped" over recent Government moves to introduce anti-terror control orders.

Mr Blair said the public would be unmoved by Mr Sedgmore's move. "What they are not particularly interested in someone they've never heard of who is not even standing as a candidate in the election," he said.

Mr Kennedy said the polls showed that the Tories could no longer win the election. "Let's have no more ridiculous scare stories from the Labour high command that a vote for the Liberal Democrats is somehow letting the Conservatives in. That won't happen."

Labour concerns over Iraq were underlined by the letter from Mr Prescott to Mr Thompson at the BBC. "You are determined to tell only one side of the story, the side that fits the agenda that says the Government took the wrong decision in removing Saddam," he wrote.