PRIME Minister Tony Blair last night tried to bring an end to talk about a feud between himself and Chancellor Gordon Brown.

Speaking at a meeting of the backbench Parliamentary Labour Party, Mr Blair issued a call for party unity in the wake of the renewed stories about tensions between the two.

Mr Blair told MPs at the meeting, which was also attended by Mr Brown, that the whole party had to concentrate on the task of winning the forthcoming General Election.

He told backbenchers: "I know from everyone here, in Cabinet and Government, nothing is going to get in the way of a unified Labour Party with a unified position and winning the third term people desperately need."

One source said that in tackling the stories about divisions, Mr Blair was making clear that nothing should be allowed to get in the way of the party projecting a unified image in advance of a "tough fight" at the election.

The source acknowledged the remarks of backbenchers reflected a sense that newspaper stories about divisions were "potentially not helpful" in the election battle.

The renewed talk of in-fighting between the two men has been sparked by a new book which repeated claims that Mr Blair had gone back on a deal to step down in favour of Mr Brown before the next election.

The book also claims that Mr Brown told the premier he could no longer trust anything he said.

The talk of a split increased last week when Mr Blair and Mr Brown held simultaneous events discussing the tsunami tragedy and aid for Africa.

During last night's meeting, several party figures voiced what one source described as "a feeling of frustration" about the way the alleged feud has dominated the headlines in recent days.

Lord Campbell-Savours urged Mr Brown to either deny that he had said he could not trust Mr Blair, or withdraw the remark.

Earlier, it was announced that Mr Blair will spell out Labour's election manifesto priorities on Thursday - while Mr Brown is away in Africa.

The premier will repeat his message that the campaign for a third term must be "unremittingly New Labour", in an address bound to infuriate supporters of Mr Brown. Mr Blair is also to meet members of the Make Poverty History action group at No 10 on Thursday, while Mr Brown is on his week-long African tour.

Tory co-chairman Liam Fox said: ''The whole thing is really quite pathetic. Here we have two self-obsessed schoolboys who spend all their time thinking about themselves and their future and not the future of the country."

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock spoke of his "frustration and indeed the fury" at the row, while Labour backbenchers voiced their concerns. Selby MP John Grogan told BBC 2's Newsnight: ''You count the votes, every one in a marginal. Those of us in marginals are reminding both big beasts that they have special responsibilities.''

Donald Anderson, the Swansea East MP, said: "Pressures will come obviously from the Cabinet and those at the high level but also the poor bloody infantry who will say, 'We've got elections to win'.