David Davis officially hands in resignation... but Labour say they won't fight by-election

David Davis stepped down as an MP today and attacked Gordon Brown's 'gutless' decision not to put up a Labour candidate in the coming by-election.

Within seconds of Mr Davis's declaration, Labour confirmed it would not fight Haltemprice and Howden on 10 July.

But Culture Secretary Andy Burnham declared that there was a 'bloody good case to be made' for making the ex-Tory MP pay the full costs of the by-election and attacked those - including Labour MPs - who had 'fallen' for the Davis 'stunt'.

He also said he found Mr Davis's relationship with Shami Chakrabarti, head of the human rights organisation Liberty, 'curious'.

He told Progress magazine: 'I find something very curious in the man who was, and still is I believe, an exponent of capital punishment having late-night, hand-wringing, heart-melting phone calls with Shami Chakrabarti.'

Mr Davis officially handed in his resignation this morning after announcing last week that he would be standing down as an MP and Shadow Home Secretary.

He insists his decision to fight a by-election in his constituency on the single issue of civil liberties is not 'madness' but if he loses, it could mark the end of his lengthy political career.

Speaking today on the steps of the Treasury, Mr Davis declared that he had no regrets and challenged Mr Brown to put up a Labour candidate for the forthcoming contest.

He added: 'If he doesn't do so, the British people will see him as gutless.'

But barely a few minutes after the formal resignation, Labour confirmed their intention not to put up anyone to challenge him.

They claimed the by-election, forced by the shadow home secretary's decision to resign after the Government narrowly won a vote on controversial 42-day terror laws, was an unnecessary waste of money.

With the Liberal Democrats already ruling themselves out, he is left facing potential candidates including a market trader, a beauty queen and a member of the Monster Raving Loony party.

Dianne Hayter, chairman of Labour's National Executive Committee, said: 'We do not believe a parliamentary by-election should be held at taxpayers' expense to resolve tensions at the top of the Conservative Party.

'This is a phoney by-election that is completely unnecessary and the Labour Party will not be taking part in what is a political stunt.'

She claimed that Mr Davis had done a deal with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who said last week that his party would not contest the by-election, and never intended to put his seat at risk.

'The Labour Party is happy to spend every day until the next election debating with the Tory Party on 42 days and whether it is right to use CCTV and DNA evidence against criminals,' she went on.

'But a phoney by-election is not the forum for these debates.'

After submitting his application to Chancellor Alistair Darling for the stewardship of the Three Chiltern Hundreds - the necessary formality for resigning a Commons seat - Mr Davis threw down the gauntlet to Mr Brown.

'The majority of the British public want to see an election, want to see a candidate put up, twice as many as don't, so this is a debate that has to happen,' he told reporters.

Mr Davis said the majority of his constituents understood he was making a principled stand in defence of civil liberties.

He insisted that he had been mindful of the risk that he could lose his seat if Labour put up a strong candidate, but added: 'There was no doubt in my mind this was the right thing to do - I have rarely been so sure of a principle in my life.'

He acknowledged that Labour's refusal to put up a candidate would diminish the significance of the by-election vote.

'If he doesn't put someone up, what he does is he reduces the importance of the actual vote, but he will increase the importance of the debate.

'Because I'm afraid the public at large care about the erosion of freedom, care about the database stuff, they care about the surveillance state, they care about the idea that innocent people might spend six weeks in prison without being charged.'

In a statement, the Treasury confirmed that Mr Davis had been granted his resignation application.

'The Chancellor of the Exchequer has today appointed the Right Honourable David Michael Davis to be Steward and Bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern,' it said.

'The Chancellor has also granted Mr Davis's request to be released from this appointment today.'

Mr Davis had requested to give up the post as well today so that he is free to win re-election to the Commons.

Meanwhile Mr Davis's supporters distributed a new poll showing that 51 per cent of the public felt Labour should put up a candidate.

The YouGov survey found that only 24 per cent  felt Labour should not put up a candidate.

YouGov contacted 1,435 British adults yesterday and today, weighting results to the profile of all voters.