McCartney comes out fighting

Labour chairman Ian McCartney launched a defiant battle to survive in his post today, pitching Tony Blair's reshuffle into new crisis.

His move to pre-empt Mr Blair's Cabinet changes, expected to start within 24 hours, appeared to be an extraordinary act of defiance. It was initially unclear if No 10 had sanctioned his comments, made in an interview with The Guardian.

The reshuffle hit yet more trouble as it emerged that Alan Milburn, the former health secretary tipped to take over as chairman, was refusing to come back unless given sweeping formal powers over Labour's election campaign and policy manifesto for a third term.

Mr Milburn, who quit 14 months ago to spend time with his family, was reported to have told Downing Street privately he will not return to the cut and thrust of Cabinet for a mere "salesman" role on radio and TV.

The conflicts left Mr Blair in a huge dilemma over how far he dared go in the reshuffle. Giving Mr Milburn his way would enrage Gordon Brown, who currently chairs the election campaign team. But doing nothing would be seen as a failure of nerve and a victory for the Chancellor.

Mr McCartney, meanwhile, is protected by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and is highly popular with backbench MPs and the unions who respect his working class image.

His fightback appeared carefully pitched to arouse sympathy from ministers and activists dismayed by high-level infighting. He said he had been the victim of sniping about his Glasgow accent and background.

"The most difficult part, and maybe the part which was unacceptable, was when people brief against you on a personal basis," he said.

"I'm very proud of my background and very proud of my accent, that's never been an issue. It's more an issue for the Westminster village.

"When you're basically described as ... 'an inarticulate working-class man from Glasgow who's very liked but ain't much good', you know it's a caricature too far."

He added: "As I travel the country, one of the most common complaints of party members is that they feel their hard work on the doorstep is often undermined by ill-discipline and briefing within the Westminster village." Mr McCartney, who still describes himself as the "Socialist MP for Makerfield" on his notepaper, said he had "credibility" as a bridge between the Government and the party. He also highlighted his role in easing tensions between Mr Blair and union leaders.

The Prime Minister was said to be in tense talks with Mr Prescott and Mr Brown today but keen to finish the reshuffle before tomorrow's-regular Cabinet meeting which will be extended to include a political session to plan the party conference.

A possible compromise, apparently floated by Mr Brown, was for Mr McCartney and Mr Milburn to act as joint chairmen, with both attending Cabinet. That would save face but does not resolve the problem of how much say over the election campaign will go to Mr Milburn.