Blair re-ignites cabinet cold war

Hague highlighted the split between Blair and Brown

By BBC News Online's political correspondent Nick Assinder.

Labour's class war has re-ignited a cabinet cold war after Tony Blair notably refused to back Chancellor Gordon Brown over his assault on university selection procedures.

As the prime minister desperately tried to row back from the furore over Mr Brown's attack on Oxbridge elitism he was put on the spot at Question Time by William Hague.

The Tory leader - buoyed up by his recent hits on the government and the prime minister's disastrous appearance at a WI meeting earlier in the day - went straight for the jugular.

Twice asked to agree with the chancellor and twice you have hung him out to dry

William Hague

Did Mr Blair agree with his chancellor that Oxford's policy was an "absolute scandal", he demanded to know.

The reply was a classic cop out : "It is only the Tories that could be satisfied with the numbers of children going from state schools to university," he said - or, in other words, "No."

Mr Hague gave him another chance to back Mr Brown - who by now looked like someone had forced him to buy a round - but got another swerve.

"If you agree with the chancellor, are you prepared to use the same words as the chancellor about this matter?" he asked again.

Mr Blair responded: "We are investing more money to help etc., etc."

Hung out to dry

It was a gift for the opposition leader who lost no opportunity in exploiting his advantage and pouring salt into the open sore which is the relationship between Mr Blair and Mr Brown.

"Twice asked to agree with the chancellor and twice you have hung him out to dry," he said.

And then he went to the nub of it. "This whole thing tells us more about the internal politics of the Labour party...."

"Hasn't it occurred to you that when the chancellor whinges about public school boys getting jobs, he's not just talking about Oxford university," he declared in a clear reference to Mr Brown's alleged leadership ambitions.

And, of course, that is exactly what everybody on all sides of the Commons had been thinking.

Gordon Brown - with or without his prime minister's blessing - had stirred up a classic Old Labour row over class and, in the process, put Mr Blair on the spot while adding to his own leadership agenda.

Cabinet split

Mr Blair, straight back from maternity leave, was clearly rattled by the whole affair.

He fears Mr Brown's Old Labour rhetoric will alienate middle England, and he is eager to damp it down.

But he also wants to avoid headlines about a split at the highest level of government over the issue.

He may have succeeded in reassuring middle England but, on Wednesday's performance, he has failed to avoid the second scenario.

Meanwhile, he has handed Mr Hague an advantage by appearing to start a hare running only to shoot it down as soon as it appeared to be getting somewhere.