Lloyd warns of risk in Britain backing US missile defence

A leading contender for the job of chairman of the Labour Party's backbench MPs led opposition to the Government's stance on proposals for American missile defence yesterday. Tony Lloyd, who is contesting today's ballot for the job, warned that risking international opposition by backing the untested system would not be in Britain's interests.

His intervention during Commons defence questions opened the way for attacks on the Government by left-wing MPs, and a scathing rebuke from Iain Duncan Smith, the shadow Defence Secretary and Tory leadership candidate.

Labour MPs will vote tonight on a successor to Clive Soley, who stood down as chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party last week. A close contest is expected between Mr Lloyd, a former Foreign Office minister who will attract the votes of MPs worried at the party's direction, and Jean Corston, a former aide to David Blunkett backed by Blair loyalists.

Mr Lloyd, who led 173 MPs in protest at the defence shield plans last month, said it would breach the anti-ballistic missile treaty and warned that it could cause "massive insecurity" in Europe. The former Foreign Office minister asked Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence: "Would my right honourable friend accept that there is sufficient uncertainty in the technology in this programme to make it difficult for us to draw conclusions?

"If the Americans were to abrogate the ABM treaty, if the Russians were then to step back and put their own missiles on to a hair trigger alert, this very uncertain long-term technology would simply not be worth the massive increase in insecurity in Europe."

Mr Hoon insisted that the Government had taken no decisions yet.