Leftwing Labour MPs, union leaders and party members have launched a challenge to the government's Blairite policies.

At a meeting on Saturday, a new party grouping was launched, calling for a more radical set of Labour policies.

The Labour Representation Committee aims to build a "socialist consensus" in opposition to the centre-left policies pursued by Tony Blair.

At a major conference, with around 400 people expected to attend, a range of policy challenges were e launched.

These included calls for a higher top rate of income tax and rises in corporate taxes, as well as the legalisation of secondary strike action.

Among those attending the event are Socialist Campaign Group MPs including Alan Simpson, Jeremy Corbyn, Alice Mahon and Lynne Jones.

The event has been funded by the Communication Workers Union, the Fire Brigades Union and the RMT and will be chaired by the left-wing former Aslef general secretary Mick Rix.

A policy document produced for the meeting accuses "Blair and the New Labour gurus" of attacking "the party, its principles, its policies and its supporters".

"The unions, the bedrock of the party, have been ignored and often attacked and the hard-won achievements of our movement - like the welfare state and the public service infrastructure, which previous Labour governments and party activists worked so hard to create - have been critically undermined," it says.

The move comes as the government continues to set out its plans to modernise the public services.

The prime minister has insisted that reforms must continue, and has already set out plans to introduce more choice in the health service.

A major announcement on education policy over the next five years will also be made within days, as the government refocuses on the domestic agenda.

However it is in international affairs, and Iraq in particular, where much criticism of the current Labour leadership remains focused.

While Number 10 hopes that the transfer of sovereignty marks a turning point in the government's fortunes, it is set to remain at the mercy of events in the country and the ability of the interim authorities in Iraq to tackle the wave of terrorism that continues to sweep across the country.