A Labour MP urged Gordon Brown to quit, while other backbenchers called for windfall taxes, as the party continued its agonised internal debate yesterday on how to avoid a catastrophic defeat at the next general election.

Gordon Prentice called on the prime minister to "reflect on things" over the summer. "I hope Gordon [will] accept that it is in the party's best interests, and perhaps his own, for him to stand down," the MP told the BBC.