Tony Blair's administration has been dealt what may turn out to be a fatal blow by the resignation of seven members of his Government.
Tony Blair is unlikely to survive for another 12 months
Tom Watson, the under-secretary of state for defence, wrote to Mr Blair this morning telling him that it was no longer in the interests of Labour or of the country for him to remain Prime Minister.
This afternoon six parliamentary private secretaries - MPs on the lowest rung of the Government ladder - also handed in their resignations.
Khalid Mahmood, Wayne David, Ian Lucas, Mark Tami and David Wright said they had to leave because Mr Blair had not "ended the uncertainty" over when he intends to step down.
Chris Mole also quit his post as parliamentary private secretary to Phil Woolas, communities minister.
The Prime Minister responded immediately by describing Mr Watson as "disloyal, discourteous and wrong" and saying that he had planned to fire him anyway.
And he warned Labour MPs that they risk consigning the party to electoral defeat if they continue to call for his resignation.
The six Government members who resigned today are all understood to be among the 17 MPs who signed a confidential letter to Mr Blair yesterday urging him to name a date for his departure.
Mr Watson's resignation will have all the more impact as he is known as a Blairite loyalist, who formerly served as a Government whip and was expected to rise through the ministerial ranks under the Prime Minister.
In his letter, released to the press, Mr Watson wrote: "It is with the greatest sadness that I have to say that I no longer believe that your remaining in office is in the interest of either the party or the country.
"How and why this situation has arisen no longer matters. I share the view of the overwhelming majority of the party and the country that the only way the party and the Government can renew itself in office is urgently to renew its leadership."
Last night it was reported that Mr Blair had set a date for his departure of May 31 next year, in an effort to curb demands for his immediate resignation.
An eight-week leadership election campaign will follow allowing a new leader — the favourite being Gordon Brown — to be chosen by July 26, when Mr Blair will step down as Prime Minister.
No 10 described the claims as "speculative" but refused to deny their accuracy.
If true, it would validate a report in The Daily Telegraph at the end of June that Mr Blair had decided to go next May after 10 years as Prime Minister.
Yesterday two Blairite Cabinet ministers, David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, and Hilary Armstrong, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said they expected Mr Blair to go within a year.
The decision by Cabinet ministers to place a limit of a year on Mr Blair's tenure reflected mounting panic in Downing Street as up to 100 Labour backbenchers prepared to sign demands for him to set a clear timetable for departure.
The Prime Minister infuriated colleagues last week by suggesting he would not be pushed into making public a timetable for his departure.
But since then aides have suggested he did not mean to appear defiant and had intended to reassure MPs he would not "go on and on".
Frustration at the refusal to offer clarity about a departure date boiled over yesterday.
Three letters circulated among MPs demanding that he make his intention clear. Many of those who signed an initial letter sent to Mr Blair were formerly loyal supporters of the New Labour project.
Last night, Labour sources cast doubt on whether Mr Blair could last until May.
During a day of high drama Mr Blair had been left with little option but to clear up the confusion.
It emerged that angry backbenchers were planning to send a delegation of party grandees to Downing Street within days to demand that he set a firm timetable.
The Prime Minister has resisted going public with a date, fearing that his authority would drain away in the last months in office.
It was also disclosed that a party whip, Kevin Brennan, whose job is to discipline rebellious MPs, wrote separately to the Prime Minister expressing his view that he should go. There was no disciplinary action against him.
The claims of a May 31 resignation surfaced in The Sun, often used as a Government mouthpiece. Labour backbenchers were likening the atmosphere inside their party to the turmoil in Tory ranks before Margaret Thatcher's downfall at the hands of rebel ministers in 1990.
Senior MPs said they now distrusted Mr Blair so profoundly that they would dispatch senior party figures to express their collective view to him face to face, before this month's party conference.
Several MPs claimed cracks were appearing in the Cabinet and named Jack Straw, the Leader of the Commons and Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, among those considering confronting Mr Blair over his departure date. Adding to speculation, a leaked Downing Street memo suggested that planning for the hand over to a successor was well in train — despite repeated denials.
A five-page document leaked to the Daily Mirror suggests that Mr Blair needs to "go with the crowds wanting more" and sets out plans for a nationwide "farewell tour". That includes appearances on television programmes such as Blue Peter and Songs of Praise in his final month in office.
David Hill, Mr Blair's director of communications, said the memo had not been seen by the Prime Minister or other senior aides.
As well as Mr Watson, a supporter of Mr Brown, the signatories to the letter from the 17 MPs in the 2001 intake to Parliament included up to six parliamentary aides to ministers.
Among them were Mr Mahmood, Mr David, Mr Lucas and Mr Wright.
Frantic attempts to shore up Mr Blair's authority were launched by senior Downing Street staff who telephoned MPs to try to persuade them to sign rival letters supporting the Prime Minister.
By early evening 49 MPs had signed the supportive version, urging Mr Blair to stick to his guns by refusing to lay out a detailed timetable in public.
Many MPs reported, however, that they had rejected Downing Street's offer in no uncertain terms.
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