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No 10 tries to bar Lyons

The prime minister has made it known that he would not want Roger Lyons to hold a senior job if the merger between MSF and the AEEU goes ahead later this year

Sir Ken Jackson, general secretary of the engineering and electrical union, is said to have been directly told by No 10 not to offer either a joint general secretary's post or another senior job to Mr Lyons.

The MSF is due to hold a conference on November 11 to discuss the merger with the much richer AEEU - and the MSF executive wants the deal to go ahead.

Anger has been expressed by No 10 after Mr Lyons is said to have boasted about his private visit with his wife, Kitty, to Chequers.

Tony Blair and the chancellor, Gordon Brown, have also been embarrassed about disclosures that the £97,000 a year general secretary was making small expense claims for drinks taken after every visit to Downing Street. The last straw was during the TUC conference when Mr Lyons went on BBC radio and attacked Mr Blair and Mr Brown for their handling of the oil blockade. The comments came as Bill Morris, general secretary of the TGWU, was trying to help the PM by holding talks with tanker drivers.

Sir Ken, asked about Mr Blair's views, told the Guardian: "You cannot expect me to comment on this."