The Prime Minister has been given a stark warning over the mood of union leaders to the prospect of public spending cuts when a rail workers' official said he would have "no hesitation" in balloting for strikes.
Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union raised the prospect of industrial action to resist cuts and job losses, adding that he would look at opportunities to co-ordinate strikes with other unions.
Speaking hours before Gordon Brown was due to address the TUC Congress in Liverpool, Mr Crow said: "Both Labour and the Tories have committed themselves to cuts and privatisation and the trade unions have to take the lead in mobilising resistance and we should start preparing right now here in Liverpool.
"RMT is in no doubt that all the main parties are softening up the public in the run up to the election and that the real cuts that will be unleashed after the votes are counted will be more savage and more severe than any party leader is prepared to admit. In many areas those cuts are already a reality. We have been warned that up to 2,500 jobs are under threat on Network Rail maintenance and we have seen this week that hundreds of firefighter posts are facing the axe.
"That's already happening under Gordon Brown's leadership and he should leave Liverpool this afternoon with a clear message that the fightback starts here."
The warning comes just hours before Mr Brown's speech, in which he is expected to admit for the first time that spending "cuts" are needed to address the state of Britain's finances.
The Prime Minister has so far avoided using the c-word while seeking to paint the Tories as the party that would slash public spending, but now looks set to acknowledge what many independent forecasters believe is inevitable.
The Conservatives - accused by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson of wanting to impose "savage" cuts - are likely to seize on Mr Brown's change of language. Mr Brown will urge voters not to risk the economic recovery with the Tories. As he seeks to shape the debate on public spending ahead of the next general election, he will claim that the British economy is on the road to recovery but warn there is no room for complacency.
Mr Brown is expected to build on comments from Lord Mandelson that Labour would reduce the country's massive debt by being "wise spenders", while the Tories were "foaming at the mouth" at the prospect of spending less on the NHS and schools.
