'Stop Brown' faction will wreck Labour, warns Hain

Peter Hain has warned that the Blairites who are trying to stop Gordon Brown from becoming Prime Minister appear to want David Cameron to take power.

As Mr Brown reinforced his credentials for the premiership on a visit to Afghanistan, the Northern Ireland Secretary made an outspoken attack on Tony Blair's allies who are trying to persuade David Miliband to mount a challenge.

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"They've got to decide, do they want an orderly transition, with or without a contest, or don't they?" said Mr Hain. "Frankly [from] some of the off-stage and on-stage noises from party colleagues that have been signalled to me, it's almost as if there is a subliminal desire to see David Cameron take over rather than Gordon Brown." His remarks underline the growing concern within the Brown leadership team over the "anybody but Gordon" tendency among some of Mr Blair's most ardent supporters.

Mr Hain did not name anyone, but Peter Mandelson, the Prime Minister's close friend and Britain's EU trade commissioner, last week called for someone to challenge Mr Brown, saying it was "obvious" that there should be a contest.

Jack Straw, the Leader of the House, and Mr Brown's campaign manager, is recruiting more senior Labour figures to endorse him. Last week Mr Miliband repeated his insistence that he would not run against Mr Brown. But that has not stopped speculation that he could change his mind before 9 May, when Mr Blair is expected formally to announce he is stepping down, if Labour is giving a drubbing in the local elections.

Mr Hain, in an interview with the Independent columnist Steve Richards to be broadcast tomorrow on GMTV, called on the "sniping'' anti-Brown camp to put up or shut up, and urged other candidates to call an immediate truce until after the 3 May local elections.

* Treasury and MoD officials confirmed plans to buy six Merlin helicopters from the Danish government and to refit eight Chinook helicopters which have been mothballed since 2001, at a total cost of about £230m.