Brown plans political fightback

Gordon Brown is to hold a special Cabinet meeting outside London in a bid to put his premiership back on track.

The talks are scheduled for Monday, September 8 and are expected to take place in the West Midlands, a Downing Street spokesman said.

Cabinet meetings are normally held on a Tuesday morning in No 10, but the spokesman said it was hoped that in future more would take place away from the capital.

Ministers will also be taking part in a series of other events in the region on the day where they will "engage" with the public.

"We feel that it is consistent with the Government's approach that it wants to listen and learn from the experiences of people in this country," the spokesman said.

The No 10 spokesman refused to be drawn on the latest bout of speculation of a possible leadership challenge to Mr Brown.

Meanwhile, the spokesman refused to be drawn on reports that ministers were considering a windfall tax on the energy companies.

But he confirmed that helping people who were struggling to pay their fuel bills due to soaring prices was now an "absolute priority" for the Government.

He said: "We will continue to work with the energy companies and others to make sure that we provide help, including social tariffs, for those groups. Protecting those who struggle to heat their homes is an absolute priority for the Government."

Over the weekend speculation intensified with the news that a group of Blairite ex-cabinet ministers such as Stephen Byers were set to unveil their own policy proposals in an apparent attempt to put further pressure on the Prime Minister.

It coincided with the leak of a damning memo, apparently written by Tony Blair in the aftermath of last year's Labour Party conference, in which he accused his successor of a "lamentable" and "vacuous" performance.

The spokesman said: "The Prime Minister is on holiday. I am not going to get into speculation on the leadership in any way."

Pressed on whether the Prime Minister still had confidence in Foreign Secretary David Miliband - whose article last week setting out his vision for restoring Labour's political fortunes was seen as a rallying call to would-be rebels - the spokesman replied: "Yes".

Mr Miliband has now left for his family holiday in Minorca, but the party remains in a feverish mood following a calamitous run of electoral setbacks, culminating in last month's disastrous defeat in the Glasgow East by-election.

MPs will now be watching to see if a potential challenge emerges in the run-up to the Labour Party conference next month in Manchester.

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