Conference call to reinstate Livingstone may spoil the party

Ken Livingstone could ruin Tony Blair's hopes of a trouble-free Labour conference with an emergency motion to readmit him to the party and a fresh threat of legal action over government plans for the Tube.

Ken Livingstone could ruin Tony Blair's hopes of a trouble-free Labour conference with an emergency motion to readmit him to the party and a fresh threat of legal action over government plans for the Tube.

Some of Britain's largest trade unions have indicated that they are ready to back calls at the Brighton conference to allow the Mayor of London back into Labour. An emergency motion submitted by the Fire Brigades Union is likely to win the support of the Transport and General Workers Union and possibly Unison, Mr Livingstone's supporters claimed.

If the conference arrangements committee agrees to accept the motion, Mr Blair could face the embarrassment of having it discussed and voted on by delegates on the floor of the conference.

In a separate move, a long-awaited report into the Government's plans for the partprivatisation of the London Underground will be highly critical of the scheme. The report, commissioned by Mr Livingstone, is expected to recommend tomorrow that ministers either make major changes to the scheme or drop it altogether. Safety fears over part-privatisation will feature prominently in the report, a fact that will be seized on by the former GLC leader as proof that the public-private partnership (PPP) should be halted.

Mr Livingstone has told The Independent that he will take legal action to stop the PPP if the independent report offers sufficient grounds. The Brent East MP, who was expelled from Labour for five years after he stood as an independent candidate for Mayor in May, also called on Mr Blair to readmit him to the party before the general election. He will make the case for his readmission and the case against the Government's Tube plans at fringe meetings at the Labour conference, which starts tomorrow.

"The idea that the T&G will cast its vote for a motion to readmit me means that, together with the support of Unison and the CLPs [constituency Labour parties], it will have every chance of being debated and passed," he said.

However, Labour's Millbank HQ has lined up Tony Banks, a former minister and chairman of the GLC, to make the case against Mr Livingstone rejoining the party.