Labour Minister warns the unions: Our links are not set in concrete

On the eve of the TUC conference in Brighton, Cabinet Minister for Industry John Hutton announced the union link that dates back to the party's foundation in 1906 was no longer 'set in concrete'.

He vowed that Labour had a duty to 'serve the best interest of the people', not a narrow 'vested interest'.

The Enterprise Secretary's blunt words are a clear signal that the party is ready to revise rules that still give union barons a major say in Labour's conference agenda, the selection of parliamentary candidates and even policy-making.

Gordon Brown has quietly moved fast to reduce his party's financial dependence on the unions.

This weekend Lord Sainsbury, the biggest private donor of the Tony Blair era, signalled he was still ready to dig deep into his pockets with the announcement that he had given a further £2million to the party.

The Prime Minister has been assiduously wooing other wealthy potential backers such as the former Tory businessmen Johan Eliasch, who has agreed to head a Government review of climate-change policy.

Mr Hutton's remarks will enrage union barons who take for granted that the millions they give every year guarantee them a seat at Labour's top table.

The Cabinet Minister tells GMTV's Sunday programme: "I don't think you serve the best interests of the people you represent by assuming everything's got to be set in concrete and can never change. People are looking to do politics differently.

"We represent the national consensus on the way forward and you don't do that by going into huddles in the smoke-filled rooms and carving out deals late at night at party conference.

"Government has got to recognise that it's got to make decisions, it's got to act in the national interest, not in pursuit of vested interest."

The remarks set the scene for an ill-tempered TUC conference where tomorrow Mr Brown will be the keynote speaker.

Relations between the Labour leadership and the union barons have become increasingly strained over the summer.

The GMB and RMT unions last month launched a campaign for a referendum on the European constitutional treaty, much to the Prime Minister's irritation.

Then last week Derek Simpson, joint leader of Britain's biggest union Unite, entered the debate over Election timing, saying Mr Brown had not done enough to fix the health service to call an autumn ballot.