With a new poll indicating a renewed Conservative electoral challenge, Gordon Brown has moved to deny fresh reports of a rift with Tony Blair.

The chancellor and prime minister had already issued a joint denial of suggestions they were split over the direction of Labour's next general election manifesto.

Having been reported as favouring a "safety first" approach at the next election, Brown insisted he fully supported plans for a "radical" manifesto.

In an article for the Guardian on Tuesday, he said Labour should remain "united".

"We must be radical in our policy proposals. Whether it is to deliver universal childcare and wider home ownership... or tackle the poverty of aspirations in many communities, a new wave of social and economic modernisation and reform is needed," Brown argued.

His comments came on the day he was set to share two public platforms with the prime minister, first at a Labour campaign launch and then again at a meeting of the Commission for Africa.

Cabinet support

Speaking on Tuesday, deputy prime minister John Prescott also insisted that Blair has the full support of the Cabinet.

"All prime ministers presumably come to saying there is an end sometime, but that is a matter for him," he told BBC Radio 4.

"But make no mistake about this - this man has got the full support of the Cabinet."

The clear message that Labour's senior figures are pulling in the same direction comes in the wake of renewed evidence of Conservative rejuvenation under Michael Howard.

Howard has caught up with Blair as the party leader voters think would make the "best prime minister", according to a YouGov poll for the Telegraph.

It also put Conservative support at 39 per cent, compared with Labour's 35 per cent and the Liberal Democrats' 19.