Tell us when you're off

Tony Blair was preparing for a bitter confrontation with Left-wing Labour MPs today as rebels demanded a clear timetable for his departure from Downing Street.

Backbench critics insisted they would tell the Prime Minister his "bloody nose" at the polls was not only due to the Iraq war, but also the use of private firms in the NHS, tuition fees and the pensions crisis.

Angered by claims that they lacked the courage to directly confront Mr Blair, hardcore members of the Left-wing Campaign Group said they would not back down. John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, said the rebels would walk out of the Parliamentary Labour Party meeting, due to take place at lunchtime today, if they were barracked or booed by Blair loyalists.

Some MPs believe that the meetingthe first of the new Parliament, will prove to be yet another "Grand Old Duke of York" act by the rebels, where Left-wingers fail to follow through with criticism of Mr Blair.

The Prime Minister was understood to be in conciliatory mood and the Labour high command were angered by suggestions he would go out of his way to take on the backbenchers. But if a string of MPs does try to launch an attack, Mr Blair is prepared to warn them they were elected on a radical new Labour manifesto.

Today former Health Secretary Frank Dobson again insisted Mr Blair was a liability. "London has council elections next year. It will be hard enough to do well anyway, but it will be very difficult if he [Mr Blair] is still leader," he said.

Other Labour MPs called for Mr Blair to prepare the ground for his exit. Geraldine Smith, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, said: "A lot of good people would still be in Parliament if he had gone earlier. People were not complaining about Labour, they were complaining about Tony Blair. It cost a number of my colleagues their seats.

"Instability in the party will come from speculation about who will be the next leader - the issue needs to be resolved very, very quickly."

Ann Cryer, MP for Keighley, said: "If I had a one-to-one with Tony Blair, I would be saying, for your own sake, it would be good to give us some idea of your timescale. My advice would be to give a certain date when he addresses the PLP."

Some MPs want an announcement "within weeks," while others believe Mr Blair should hang on at least until after a referendum on the EU constitution, expected to be held in a year.

Lynne Jones, MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, said: "If we want to move on we need closure over Iraq and we cannot do that until we have a new leader. I would like to see him go by the autumn."

But Michael Connarty, MP for Linlithgow, argued: "I think he should lead us into the referendum on the EU constitution. It would be better for him to lead us in that campaign and then stand aside gracefully in a smooth transition."

However one former Cabinet minister warned against Gordon Brown taking over the leadership. Writing in the Independent, former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam said the Chancellor was not as Left-wing as some MPs would like to believe - but his image of being more Left-wing than Mr Blair would actually scare off voters.

She added: "If we add to this that his management style is even more arrogant and exclusive than Blair, we have a dangerous cocktail for Labour."

MPs also indicated that they would like to see policy changes, and more account taken of the Commons. Former Cabinet minister Stephen Byers warned Mr Blair that he had to show he was listening by giving Parliament a right to vote on future wars.

Labour MP David Winnick warned the Cabinet had to reconsider proposals for ID cards: "It would be very difficult for me as a strong opponent of ID cards to change my vote in a new Parliament."