Nicolas Sarkozy, France's interior minister, is distancing himself from Dominique de Villepin, prime minister, in the battle over unpopular labour reforms, as tensions rise between the two main rivals on the right for next year's presidential elections.

Mr Sarkozy, head of the centre-right UMP, has publicly supported the labour reforms. But since big demonstrations against the reforms this week, several of his allies have called for it to be watered down or abandoned, exposing a growing rift between the government's top two ministers.