It has promised dramatic improvements in service, the most ambitious being a 15 per cent reduction in delays on the Piccadilly line within a year.Metronet, the consortium taking over the rest of the Tube network, is still some weeks away from completing on its part of the deal.. About half the members of the Shadow Cabinet are ready to tell Iain Duncan Smith that he has to resign for the sake of the Conservative Party. The first to deliver this message was Kenneth Clarke, the then Education Secretary.One Tory said: “About half the Shadow Cabinet are prepared to go to see Iain Duncan Smith after the debacle in May to say that if he is not prepared to stand down, they will.”Forget about trying to win the next general election We’re into survival. We’re not talking about the Conservative Party as a serious fighting force. Mr Bercow has already signed a Labour amendment that would scrap Section 28.It is unclear whether Mr Duncan Smith will allow a free vote on the issue. If he does not, he faces a “far bigger rebellion”, one MP said.The major obstacle facing Tories who want Mr Duncan Smith removed is their inability to agree on who should take his place. Mr Clarke, who is more popular in the country than any other Tory MP, could still be defeated in a leadership contest..

Senior civil servants are increasingly concerned about a diary reputedly being kept by Alastair Campbell, which could make a millionaire out of the Prime Minister’s director of communications when he eventually leaves the Government. When this was put to him directly yesterday, Sir Andrew responded: “This is news to me.”He added that he saw “no need” for structural change in Downing Street’s organisation. Mr Campbell’s civil service colleagues inside Downing Street say that if he is proposing to publish a diary, civil service rules will require that it is thoroughly vetted before publication to ensure that there has no breach of secrecy.One official said: “Mr Campbell is not about to leave his job and if he was, he would be bound by the usual procedures.”In terms of the relationship between Alastair and those who are the sources of sensitive material, it’s actually one of the strongest relationships there are.”. Tony Blair and his ministers have been warned by Labour Party stalwarts from around the country against rushing into a war with Iraq.

It is the sternest warning yet that the Prime Minister has received from his own party. The flagship aircraft carrier will head the largest task force assembled by the UK since the Falklands War, more than 20 years ago.At the same time, nearly 35,000 United States troops were given their marching orders, in the biggest troop deployment since the US began its build-up in the Gulf. By the end of January, the US’s military strength in the region will exceed 100,000.The Independent on Sunday survey coincides with reports from Washington that the strength of anti-war feeling in the Labour Party and across Europe may have given Iraq more time to avert a war.Yesterday’s Washington Post said that the prospect of a February war was “receding” because of the unambiguous message from US allies that the UN weapons inspectors need more time. The report singled out Tony Blair as one of the Western leaders urging Mr Bush to delay, stating he was “under increasing pressure from his own Labour Party”.The extent of that pressure is revealed in the Independent on Sunday survey. It showed that only two out of 35 constituency Labour Party officials felt that their members would support British involvement in a military strike without UN backing.Mr Blair’s chances of getting his party to support him will be vastly improved if the UN weapons inspectors are given time to uncover proof that Iraq has breached UN resolutions, leading the Security Council to sanction war. In those circumstances, 29 of those asked would be prepared to support a military strike – although some sounded uneasy at the prospect, while three opposed war in any circumstances.Phil Riley, secretary of the Blackburn Labour Party – where the local MP is the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw – forecast that a “broad majority” of local party members would back military action but “it has to be with UN approval and also the approval of the House of Commons”.Mr Blair and Mr Straw have stressed that last week’s military build-up does not mean that war is inevitable – although they insist that it depends entirely on the Iraqis whether the crisis can be resolved peacefully.Mr Blair was in Hanover yesterday for private talks with the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schr?.

Mr Schr? made opposition to war a key plank of his re-election campaign last year.Tomorrow Mr Blair will set out to win over public opinion not just on the importance of disarming Saddam Hussein, but also on his plans for public sector reform. He will hold a televised press conference in Downing Street, and on Wednesday he will address Labour MPs.At both sessions, Downing Street is anticipating difficult questions about Iraq, and about domestic issues such as university top-up fees, the plan to convert some NHS hospitals into self-governing foundation hospitals, and the threatened firefighters’ strike.. An Independent on Sunday survey of Labour Party chairs of ministers’ constituencies shows overwhelming grassroots hostility to military action against Iraq. Just two said there was support for it, and three were undecided. Twenty-eight came out against.The survey, conducted following the Prime Minister’s refusal to rule out any war that did not have the backing of the United Nations when pressed in the Commons last week, showed a greater support – 29 local parties – for UN-backed action. But of those, many were extremely uncomfortable with the prospect.