The Labour Party has said there is no "policy vacuum" at the heart of the government, in response to accusations levelled by former minister Peter Kilfoyle.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott led Labour chiefs in dismissing the claims. Mr Kilfoyle also roused a strong reaction in Labour campaigns manager and Cabinet Office Minister Ian McCartney, who said the comments were groundless.

Mr Prescott, who is in Blackpool, for Labour's local government conference, said: "I don't see how he can really say that.

"We have now put £5bn into housing and that is what the party wanted us to do, we now talk of full employment, not mass unemployment, we are reducing the waiting lists.

"We are doing everything we promised, something like 80% plus of our manifesto has already been implemented."

He told the BBC: "That is what governments have to do, carry out the wishes of the party, their commitments to the electorate - that is what we are doing."

Mr McCartney also supported the government's legislation programme, saying: "We have got the largest programme of change ever seen by any government in any Parliament," he said.

"People criticise us for making too much change."

Mr Kilfoyle resigned on Monday in protest at the government's treatment of the "heartlands of Labour".

He told Saturday's Daily Telegraph: "I don't know what New Labour is. I believe we need some kind of ideological glue to hold things together."

Mr McCartney defended the government's record, citing the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit, the New Deal, the commitment to tackling child poverty and the regeneration of the health and education services.

"It will take time but, bit by bit, significant change is taking place," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday.

Kilfoyle 'is wrong'

Clive Soley, Parliamentary Labour Party chairman, also criticised Mr Kilfoyle's comments.

"I think he's wrong, I think there is a purpose, and the purpose is clear, actually, it's to create a much fairer Britain," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Mr Soley said it was "fair enough" that the former defence minister should constructively criticise the government on the pace of reform.

He added: "He is saying, 'couldn't we do more, faster, particularly for the people that I represent, in my area?'.

"That's a fair thing to say."

"We have to pace ourselves." he said.

The Telegraph interview is the first sign of what Mr Blair can expect from Mr Kilfoyle. The MP for Liverpool West also said Prime Minister Tony Blair's "Third Way" did not mean anything.

But although he maintains he is still loyal to Mr Blair, he said there was too much concentration on the "middle ground" of politics.

It is too early to say whether it will damage his chances of becoming Mayor of Liverpool, should the government decide to extend the London example to provincial cities.