Gordon Brown has issued a clear warning to fire fighters that the government will not yield to their pay claim.

The chancellor, in a Times interview, signalled he was not prepared to agree to the Fire Brigade Union's demand for a 40 per cent pay rise.

Brown told the paper that the government departments would get no extra cash to meet public sector pay claims.

"There will be no more money coming from the government for individual departments," he told the paper.

Brown made it clear that he had set the government's fiscal plans for the next three years in July's comprehensive spending review and the limits would be adhered to.

"People know well that the spending figures set in July are the spending figures that we stick to," he said.

"This is a time for a resolute and long-term approach, both for the economy and public spending, that rejects quick fixes and, short-termism or lurching this way or that, which has never served Britain well in the past."

Despite the tough talking, ministers and Labour's party chairman, Charles Clarke ,have been engaging in eleventh hour talks with the Fire Brigade Union to avert a walk-out.

There is anger among ministers at the handling of negotiations by fire service bosses.

The government is now also facing pressure from backbenchers to allow negotiators to agree a deal.

John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington and chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, has begun a Commons motion urging the government to back down.

"The government prevented the employers making their final offer. That offer could have been put to the members of the FBU and we could have had a settlement by now," he said.

McDonnell said that an offer should have been put to fire fighters to either accept or reject rather than the government's demand of a pay review commission.

"What I have done is put down an early day asking the prime minister now to intervene personally because we are now drifting to a very dangerous dispute and asking him to get both sides together again to restart negotiations."