Livingstone joins 45 Labour rebels over air traffic sell-off

Ken Livingstone, London's new independent Mayor, joined 45 Labour rebels last night and voted against the Government over the semi-privatisation of Britain's air traffic controlservices.

Mr Livingstone's vote against the Government, only the day after his swearing in as the first elected Mayor of London, will be seen as a slap in the face for Tony Blair after their weekend "peace talks". It could make it more difficult to persuade the Labour leadership to allow his return to the party.

The rebellion was a fresh blow to Mr Blair after Labour's defeats last week in the local elections. More Labour MPs abstained, and Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs also opposed the plans in one vote, slashing the Government's 177 majority to only 60.

The rebels included senior Labour backbenchers, such as the former Transport minister Gavin Strang and Gwyneth Dunwoody, the chairman of the Commons Select Committee on Transport, which attacked the plans as the worst option.

The strength of the opposition means the Government is certain to face the threat of defeat when the Transport Bill goes to the Lords, and John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, may be forced to return to the Commons to overturn changes in the Lords before it becomes law.

The rebellion, though, was less than feared and well below Labour's worst revolt, when 67 MPs voted against cuts on invalidity benefits.

Government whips had worked hard to reduce the numbers voting against the Bill and Mr Blair had backed Mr Prescott, who led a spirited defence of his proposals.

Mr Prescott, in a last-minute concession to head off a bigger revolt, assured Scots Labour MPs that the legislation would be changed to ensure Scotland kept its own centre for air traffic control under the plans.

He dismissed as "an awful lot of tosh" the warnings that selling off shares in Britain's National Air Traffic Service would compromise safety.