PM's push to rebuild support

Gordon Brown is set to chair his first Cabinet meeting since Labour's disastrous local election defeats.

The Prime Minister is expected to ditch unpopular policies, such as the 2p rise in fuel duty.

But some dissident backbench Labour MPs say the changes won't be enough to avoid losing Mr Brown the general election.

The most high profile move - backtracking on controversial pay-as-you-throw litter charges - threatened to backfire on Monday when council leaders accused him of wasting millions of pounds by "dithering".

Last September, Downing Street stepped in to block an announcement giving the idea a full green light. However proposals for pilot schemes were later a surprise inclusion in the Climate Change Bill.

Number 10 then briefed media on Monday that Mr Brown would veto any national scheme - but Defra confirmed that the trials were still going ahead regardless of this opposition.

The three-year tests are being funded with £4.5 million from central Government, while councils are due to contribute at least another £3 million for start-up and running costs.

The Local Government Association questioned why taxpayers were being asked to fork out £7.5 million if his mind was already made up.

Councillor Paul Bettison, the LGA's environment spokesman, said: "This must be making him dizzy. It is the third U-turn he has carried out on these financial incentives. There is the smell of burning rubber everywhere.

"Millions of pounds have been set aside to pay for councils carrying out these pilots, and that will be wasted."

He added: "We're a long way down the process and U-turns always look like dithering. It is the action of someone who does not know what he is doing."

The damning criticism came as senior ministers rallied around their premier in the wake of last Thursday's Labour bloodbath at the polls.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband branded talk of a leadership challenge "utter rubbish", while Justice Secretary Jack Straw and International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander also insisted Mr Brown's position was secure.

Tony Lloyd, chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, claimed only "malicious" MPs and those with "personality defects" wanted to depose the PM.

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