Monks hits back at a 'Thatcherite' Tony Blair

John Monks, the TUC general secretary, accused Tony Blair yesterday of aping Margaret Thatcher when he called the leader of the Fire Brigades Union "Scargillite".

Normally a Downing Street loyalist, Mr Monks launched a strongly-worded attack on the Prime Minister for likening FBU general secretary, Andy Gilchrist, to the militant mine workers' leader Arthur Scargill.

Mr Monks said he believed there were people in Number 10 "spoiling for a fight" with the unions after journalists were briefed last week about Mr Blair's private description of Mr Gilchrist.

Reports of a heavy-handed PR operation from Downing Street came at an extremely sensitive time in the negotiations as the TUC acted as an honest broker to bring John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, into the affair. Mr Prescott himself "went ballistic" at Mr Blair's description.

The TUC leader said he believed that those determined to stir up trouble with the unions were in the minority and that the Government was keen to avoid a damaging confrontation with firefighters.

On BBC News 24's One to One programme, to be shown this weekend, he says of Mr Blair: "One of my criticisms is he is careless with language and when he is under pressure he reaches for the Conservative political lexicon of the 1980s and uses these things – 'wreckers' was another one – which give offence and are not accurate, but they carry a certain PR punch and it doesn't help.

"I think it was too much of a – if I can repay the compliment – Thatcherite reaction and just kept conjuring up some old, irrelevant memory."

The FBU executive meets on Monday after talks with the employers ended on Thursday without agreement.