Public sector union chief, Dave Prentis, has warned Tony Blair that he faces a "summer of discontent" from local authority workers.

The Unison general secretary warned that a three per cent pay offer to council workers was likely to be rejected, which could lead to the first national strike for 20 years.

Prentis also expressed concern about Blair's links with his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi.

"Our members have gone through decades of underfunding and decades of when jobs haven't been filled. Then at the end of that, when starved of resources, the impression has been built that it's their fault and you have to bring in the private sector to turn it round," he said.