Labour split deepens after ex-Blair aide attacks Brown

London: Further divisions opened up in Labour as one of Tony Blair's former aides launched a withering attack on Gordon Brown.

Philip Collins, who is close to Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell and Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, accused the Prime Minister of abandoning bold reforms to the Conservatives.

Radical plans to boost literacy in schools, decentralise power and make big public services more responsive had been surrendered, he argued.

Under Brown the government was "behaving like an opposition" by allowing Tory leader David Cameron to hijack Labour ideas and campaign from the centre. "So it is that Labour now finds itself just to the left of sensible on everything," claimed Collins.

He accused Brown's close Cabinet ally Ed Balls, the Children's Secretary, of taking on extra powers over school dinners while losing ground on reforms.

Collins, who was Blair's speechwriter, wrote in The Times that the Prime Minister was more interested in wrongfooting the Tories than the rights and wrongs of political ideas, a claim that will anger Brown's admirers.

Meanwhile, supporters of Harriet Harman on Tuesday said she was the victim of a whispering campaign to paint her as plotting against Gordon Brown.

Allies called for a halt to what they said were "high-level" briefings against Labour's deputy leader by allies of the Prime Minister.

Harman has been accused of positioning herself for the Labour leadership by "playing to the gallery" on City bonuses and distancing herself from Brown.

It was being hinted that her allies leaked details of last week's Cabinet meeting when she confronted other ministers and called for a claw-back deal on bankers' bonuses. Some have even accused her of being behind suggestions made this week that Brown could leave before the next election because German leader Angela Merkel was pressing for him to become a global regulator.