Labour must put an end to "ego-fuelled" divides and come together to fight the Tories, a former minister said last night as it emerged the trade unions had dropped plans to ban a Blairite faction from the party.

John Woodcock told the Progress rally it was "great" that union bosses had decided against tabling a motion that would attempt to force out the group, funded by Lord Sainsbury, but said the party must now put its energies into working together to secure electoral success.

He told activists that included putting the needs of voters before any "special interest group" regardless of how much power they held in the party.

"We must always remember that we are one party," he said.

"Of course the ego-fuelled divides or the Blair/Brown years must never, ever return but we must be guided by this basic lesson too: when you lose an election you know by definition that your tent wasn't big enough. The next time round you need more people with you.

"That's why, to win again, Labour must always put the British people first ahead of any special interest group, no matter how powerful or sometimes how close to home."

The GMB initially raised the prospect of banning Progress but Aslef intend to put the motion forward during the party conference.

It is understood the union decided a few weeks ago not to proceed with the plan, although unions are still unhappy with the influence of the faction within the party.

Mr Woodcock added: "You don't build a stronger union, a stronger movement by rounding on the people that you have already got. It is great that the motion to ban progress has been withdrawn from this conference."