Blair faces a battle on two fronts

Tony Blair faces a battle on two fronts at the Labour party conference in Blackpool today.

Delegates will be debating two of the most contentious issues - Iraq and the government's Private's Finance Initiative for helping to fund public services.

Many in the party are critical of Mr Blair's backing for President Bush's tough stance on Saddam Hussein.

He also faces a showdown with the unions, which want an independent review of PFI.

So how will Mr Blair try to win over his own party members?

Breakfast is live in Blackpool this week: our political correspondent Jonathan Beale serves up our daily menu:

Breakfast talked to Bill Morris, the General Secretary of Transport and General Workers Union. He said:

Click here to watch our interview with Bill Morris

We believe the Inspectorate should go in, and remove the weapons of mass destruction. We should also look at permanent inspections. Peace should be objective not regime change. We need to also ensure weapons of mass destructions can't be procured. Regarding PFI we have members who are affected by it. We cannot tolerate a 2 tier labour market. We need a framework that works not at the expense of the people.

We also spoke to Paul Boateng, chief secretary to the Treasury.

Click here to watch our interview with Paul Boateng

(Do continue reading for more background to the story)

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By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

Senior ministers are lining up to face down a double-headed assault on the government's policies during key debates at the party conference in Blackpool on Monday.

Chancellor Gordon Brown, deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will take up the cudgels over the hugely-controversial issues of Iraq and the use of private sector funding in public services.

The unions will confirm their strategy on Monday

With unions and party members planning major revolts over Tony Blair's stand on both subjects, the ministers will seek to prepare the ground for the prime minister's big speech on Tuesday.

Ahead of the showdown, Mr Brown has delivered a blunt message to the unions saying there will be no government retreat over the controversial private finance initiative (PFI).

In an interview with the Guardian on Monday, he warned that the alternative of funding new schools and hospitals by "reckless borrowing" will risk the return of a privatising Conservative government.

But with neither unions or delegates showing any sign of giving way, the issue of PFI - along with Iraq - is being seen as Mr Blair's toughest conference challenge yet - and ministers are even bracing themselves for possible defeats.

Compromise

The unions have switched tactics in their opposition to PFI from demanding a moratorium to calling for an independent inquiry into the practice.

But ministers have made it plain they believe that amounts to the same thing and would stymie the private investment schemes currently building schools and hospitals.

Iraq protest highlighted Blair's difficulties

The unions argue that no detailed work has previously been done on the effectiveness of PFI and that an investigation would be a reasonable compromise.

A motion due to be debated on Monday is highly critical of PFIs and, with a number of constituency parties that had been expected to back the government coming out in support of the critical unions on Sunday night, an embarrassing - and rare - conference defeat is looming for Tony Blair.

Similarly, there is widespread concern over the Prime Minister's apparent willingness to go to war with Iraq if the UN fails to deliver to Saddam Hussein the sort of ultimatum he and US President George Bush are demanding.

Mr Brown, Mr Prescott and Mr Straw are likely to insist the government is listening to their concerns, but will try to win the conference over to Mr Blair's position.

UN credibility

The chancellor will map out the government's record and its unprecedented programme of spending on the public services.

He is expected to say that the government has an historic opportunity to transform the public services of the sort it has never faced before.

And he will urge the conference to have the political will to press ahead with the necessary reforms.

Mr Straw is expected to again underline the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and detailed in the dossier of evidence published last week.

He is likely to repeat the line that doing nothing is no longer an option and that the UN's credibility and authority is on the line over this issue.

But the dossier has failed to win over the government's opponents inside the Labour movement - many attended Saturday's protest march in London - and it seems unlikely any minister, or even the prime minister, will be able to sway them.

However, the wording of two motions on Iraq due to go to the conference floor means the government may escape a defeat.

Top of agenda

Speaking on the first day of the conference, Mr Blair insisted his reforms of the public services must go ahead.

We are going down the UN route but the UN route has to be the way of dealing with it, not avoiding it

Tony Blair

He told BBC One's Breakfast with Frost that traditional ways of delivering healthcare and education were not enough for today's world.

"The public services are at the very top of our agenda," the prime minister said.

"And I believe we have to up the pace of reform, not slow it down ... whatever the difficulties internally within the Labour Party, difficulties in taking on certain interest groups with the country."

And on Iraq he again insisted action must be taken through the UN.

Conflict

"The key to this is that the United Nations has got to be the way of dealing with this," said Mr Blair.

But he warned: "We are going down the UN route but the UN route has to be the way of dealing with it, not avoiding it."

And he added Saddam Hussein had a clear choice: "If he wants to avoid conflict, he has to do what the international community is saying."

The timetabling of the conference appears to be designed to get the big controversies out of the way on the first day - allowing Mr Blair a clear run in his speech on Tuesday.