Class war row as Tory joins Brown's social mobility panel

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John Major's former education secretary has been appointed to the panel, which will look at how children from poorer backgrounds can break into professions such as medicine, the law, the army and the media.

In what is seen as an attempt to revive Gordon Brown's "big tent" approach to government, Baroness Shephard will head the project to get more working class young people into politics, mainly through mentoring those who would not normally consider a career as an MP.

The panel has been attacked by the Tories as proof of Labour's attempt to resurrect a "class war". Critics claim it will seek ways to discriminate against the middle classes and have condemned it as "social engineering".

Shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling said: "This is all about Gordon Brown fighting class wars and internal Labour political manoeuvring, and nothing to do with the real root cause of social immobility. The Government should be concentrating on tackling endemic worklessness, educational failure and family breakdown."

Baroness Shephard, who still represents the Tory party in the Lords, is widely respected for her long-standing work with young people.