LONDON, Jan 11: Prime Minister Tony Blair and his finance minister Gordon Brown have come under pressure from their own Labour Party to put a lid on their leadership squabbling ahead of Britain's next general election.

Back bench Labour MPs gave both men a dressing down at a closed-door meeting Late on Monday, at which Blair appealed for unity while the chancellor of the exchequer - who on Tuesday embarks on a week-long tour of Africa - kept quiet.

"Tony Blair and Gordon Brown both had a scorching," said Labour MP Paul Flynn after the meeting. "It was a parliamentary Labour Party meeting like no other." Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott conceded on Tuesday: "The troops are saying to the leaders: 'Get in line'."

Fresh speculation of a breakdown in trust emerged at the weekend, as a new book claimed that Blair repeatedly told Brown last year that he would step down and give him the keys to Downing Street - and then changed his mind.

"There is nothing that you could ever say to me now that I could ever believe," a frustrated Brown reportedly told Blair, according to "Brown's Britain" by journalist Robert Peston.

The main opposition Conservative Party, always keen to portray Blair as untrustworthy, was quick to jump on that quote, saying it plans to use it in its campaign literature. Brown didn't confirm on Tuesday that those were truly his words, as he appeared for the launch of new Labour election posters.

"Our manifesto for the coming election, our shared purpose, our united determination, our commitment to the British people and our full motivation is that in the next parliament Britain will be a country of stability, of enterprise, of employment, of investment and of fairness," he said. Two new polls, published on Tuesday, continued to point to a Labour victory at the next election, which Blair is expected to call for May 5. -AFP