More strike misery ahead

Yet more strikes threatened the nation today as Tony Blair fought to fend off all-out war between the Government and the unions.

And Cabinet member and Party Chairman Charles Clarke warned that Labour could be "stumbling towards an end" of its historic bond with the union movement.

Tanker drivers at the last minute called off a stoppage which threatened to shut down Shell petrol stations across the country.

But thousands of summer holidays faced disruption and delay after baggage handlers and check-in staff at Heathrow, Gatwick and elsewhere voted to strike next month in pursuit of a pay claim.

Workers at Manchester airport will stage a two-hour strike tomorrow and walk out for two hours on July 30 and August 3 in a dispute over pay.

On top of that came the threat of more stoppages on the Underground and air travel hit by possible walk-outs among air traffic controllers in the UK and the Continent.

The Prime Minister held crisis talks with union leaders last night in an attempt to soften the increasingly hard line in favour of militant action and against his Government. But Downing Street was shocked by the defeat of one of Mr Blair's closest allies, Sir Ken Jackson, as joint leader of the giant Amicus union.

The union was locked in a damaging internal feud today as Sir Ken challenged the unexpected victory of his rival, Left-winger Derek Simpson, by the narrowest of margins after four recounts.

The row over whether the election was properly handled is set to run for weeks, with the possibility of legal action prolonging it. But the message that the Left is on the march across the union movement was clear.

Mr Blair, at yesterday's private meeting with eight union general secretaries at the Commons, was reported to have asked them how relations could be improved.

The Prime Minister's aides maintained that the meeting was "routine". But, with Londoners outside struggling home during a Tube strike and on the day following the biggest public sector walk-out since 1979, the urgency was only too apparent.

Labour chairman Mr Clarke, in an interview today with the Left-wing magazine Tribune, said that he was worried that the unions and the Party could be "stumbling towards an end" of the historic link between them.

That, he said, was "not by any desire on my part or my colleagues but because we do not understand each other properly". Some union leaders privately blame No10 for allowing the relationship to collapse. They have complained that several of Mr Blair's key fixers, including Industry Minister Ian McCartney and Downing Street staff member Jon Cruddas, have moved on, the first to another department and the second to become an MP. And they say their replacements are not trusted.

The growing strains have also propelled the Labour Party finances into deep trouble, with fears that if Mr Simpson's victory is confirmed, another big slice of cash backing will be lost.

Tension climbed further after Downing Street signalled that it is lining up to resist union demands for a big extension of workers' rights.

Mr Simpson complained after his victory that he could not understand why the country should have a Labour Government coupled with the least generous labour laws in Europe.