Only half of Labour MPs back new Trident

Fewer than half of Labour back benchers support the Government's plans for Britain's £65bn replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system, according to a survey.

The poll of 174 MPs from all parties by CommunicateResearch reveals the Labour Party is split over the Commons vote tonight, fuelling the threat of the biggest Labour backbench rebellion since the Iraq war.

Tony Blair faces the humiliation of relying on Tory support to win tonight's vote on Trident. Last night the Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, and the Defence Secretary, Des Browne, tried to head off the revolt by warning Labour MPs that they would be accused by the Tories of turning the clock back to the anti-nuclear "loony left" of the 1980s.

"They will say the Labour Party is dangerously divided on an issue of crucial importance to the nation's security. We cannot afford this, as our experience on the same issue showed all too clearly," the cabinet ministers said in a private briefing note to MPs.

They added: "The Tories will say that they saved our nuclear deterrent and only they can be trusted to protect the nation. They will remember this and use it at the ballot box."

However, the note backfired, with some Labour MPs furious at being threatened by cabinet ministers over a Commons vote which will commit future generations to a full-scale replacement for Trident. They also reacted with anger to alleged "facts and myths" about Trident in the note.

"It is a fiction to pretend the new Trident is right for Britain when it is plainly wrong," Harry Cohen, a Labour MP, said. "The facts are that it is exorbitantly expensive, totally useless against terrorism and a green light for proliferation."

He said Mr Blair would be relying on the "same coalition of Labour payroll vote and the Tories which gave us the Iraq carnage".

About 60 Labour MPs defied a Labour three-line whip last night by signing a cross-party amendment tabled by Jon Trickett, the Labour backbencher, Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, and Gavin Strang, a former minister, to oppose the renewal of Trident.

The revolt spread to a group of normally loyal Labour MPs, including the former ministers John Denham and Fiona McTaggart, who tabled a rival amendment calling for a delay in the decision on a new nuclear weapon. Others who are backing this amendment include Barry Sheerman and Alan Whitehead, and they were seeking the support of Charles Clarke, the former home secretary.

The poll for The Independent shows there is a remarkable lack of enthusiasm on the Labour benches for the Trident upgrade. According to the survey, only 49 per cent of Labour MPs agree that "the UK should continue to maintain a nuclear deterrent for the forseeable future". Some 39 per cent disagree, while a further 12 per cent say they do not know.

A bigger proportion of Labour MPs is expected to support the Government in tonight's vote, when they will be under a three-line whip. The poll findings will fuel criticism that the system is being railroaded through Parliament.

The survey found that Tory MPs overwhelmingly back retaining the nuclear deterrent, by 93 per cent to 5 per cent. Liberal Democrat MPs oppose keeping Trident by 60 per cent to 23 per cent.

Anti-nuclear protesters are keeping up an all-night vigil at the Commons on top of crane which they climbed yesterday to unfurl a banner. A photographer with Greenpeace broke a leg in the stunt.

This morning, a group of celebrities including Annie Lennox will urge Labour MPs to hold firm and vote against the Government.

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