TONY Blair was accused of "walking out" on the Labour Party last night after winning a Commons vote on his flagship Education Bill with Conservative support.

Fifty-two Labour backbenchers rebelled against the Prime Minister's plans to create independent "trust" schools, to be run in partnership with private firms and religious groups.

The scale of the revolt meant the Bill only cleared its first parliamentary hurdle because the majority of Conservatives voted with the Government.

Labour leftwingers immediately compared the result to 1931, when the party's first prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald, split his party by forming a coalition with the Tories. John McDonnell, a leading leftwinger, said Mr Blair had formed a similar alliance to pass his Bill, "completely disregarding the views of Labour MPs and party members".

He added: "By relying upon Tory support in the face of his own backbenchers, Tony Blair has lost not just his moral authority but the confidence of the party. Tonight the Prime Minister has walked out on the party and effectively resigned as leader."

Labour loyalists were quick to claim "a win is a win", pointing out the Bill had moved to detailed scrutiny at its committee stage with an overwhelming majority of 343.

Furthermore, Mr Blair saw off a later attempt to delay the passage of the Bill by many months when he won a timetable motion, allowing debate to be guillotined in committee.

But the result was seen all round as a serious blow to the Prime Minister's authority, increasing discontent among Labour's rank-and-file with local elections less than two months away.

Many Labour MPs fear Tory leader David Cameron will pull the rug from under Mr Blair at a later stage if further concessions are made.

Among last night's rebels were North-East MPs Ronny Campbell, David Clelland and Doug Henderson. Three others - Frank Cook, John Cummings and Bill Etherington - abstained.

Mr Blair has insisted giving new freedoms to headteachers to create their own ethos, free from town hall interference, is key to raising standards in schools where results are still poor.

But critics have warned of a two-tier system because of greater academic selection by the back door, with the poorest and least able pupils left behind in "sink" schools.

Labour rebels also fear giving private partners a majority on governing boards paves the way for the privatisation of state schools.

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