Reed: resignation

Tony Blair has faced his first government resignation over the looming Iraq war.

Andy Reed, the parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Margaret Beckett, will tender his resignation on Monday.

The Loughborough MP said he would make a further statement at midday tomorrow.

Announcing his intention to resign, he said: "I will set out my full reasons for resigning, but I fully support the prime minister in his attempts to find a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis through the UN route and do not want to do anything that undermines that effort at this stage.

"I still oppose any war without specific UN agreement along with many other Labour colleagues."

Payroll Problems

Whilst Reed's post is unsalaried it is widely seen as the first rung on the ministerial ladder and is counted as part of the government "payroll".

Deputy prime minister John Prescott admitted there was disquiet on the issue.

"This is a very serious issue. Lots of MPs are concerned about it. Lots of the public are concerned about it," he told Breakfast with Frost.

Reports suggest that up to 10 ministerial bag carriers may be set to resign in protest at the government's Iraq policy.

Ken Purchase, an aide to Commons leader Robin Cook, has also signalled that he will quit if the prime minister goes ahead with his war plans.

Anne Campbell, PPS to trade secretary Patricia Hewitt, has also warned that she will resign unless a second resolution is achieved.

Said Hewitt: "She has told me that she would be very unhappy about the possibility of war without a second resolution.

"I have to say I think it is a bit self-indulgent really for people to be talking about resignation in the hypothetical situation that there is no second resolution when the government is working flat out to get that second resolution."

Tony Wright, PPS to the attorney general Lord Goldsmith, said the UN "is the only route" available to the government.

"If there is a veto then that would put me - and I suspect a considerable number of others - in a very difficult position. Yes, I would quit."

Ministerial Resignations

Blair is also likely to see ministerial resignations if he presses ahead with war without securing a second resolution.

Cook and Clare Short have both expressed unease at government policy.

Former minister Tony Banks said a war would have "pretty devastating" consequences for the government.

Labour MPs who backed the prime minister in the recent Iraq vote have also signalled that they are set to join the rebels.

Barbara Follett signalled that she will join forces with those opposed to war.

Several pro-war Labour MPs are also being warned that they may be deselected by their local parties unless they reconsider their stance.

Martin Linton, the MP for Battersea, is said to be facing deselection unless he reconsiders his support for the party leadership.

The claim comes amid growing disaffection on the range of issues.

Father of the House Tam Dalyell warned that the prime minister is now facing real hostility over his plans.

"I am sure that parliamentary private secretaries - backbenchers who act as unpaid assistants to ministers - have genuine feelings but they must also look to whether their prime loyalty is to the leadership of the party or to their constituency associations," he said.

Illegal War?

The speculation came as a former Labour solicitor general warned Blair that war without a second resolution would be "flagrantly illegal".

"The difficulty here is that the security council hasn't authorised military action and so in the absence of that it seems to me that it would be flagrantly unlawful to take military action," said Lord Archer of Sandwell.

He also warned that military action would have grave consequences for the party.

"I think it would split the party and I think that it would do a great deal of damage to the party...Our electoral prospects would be seriously damaged," he told GMTV's Sunday programme.

Former ministers are also claiming that senior military chiefs have concerns over the looming war on Iraq.

Doug Henderson, a former armed forces minister, said defence chiefs believe the US-led conflict would be "a very risky adventure".

"I think a lot of the leadership in the armed forces - the generals and the air marshals - they're saying they don't really see the point of all this," he said.

"Now they're gagged, quite rightly, but their own view, I know that from the connections I've got with some of them, is that they think this is a very risky adventure."

Despite a new poll which revealed that 68 per cent of voters now back military action, Henderson said the overwhelming majority of Labour members were against military action.

"I would guess about 95 per cent of Labour party members are against a war, unless the United Nations give an explicit instruction," he said.