Civil war flared between Labour's Euro-MPs and the party leadership last night after Mr Tony Blair signalled his determination to gag left-wing dissidents who face being purged before the 1999 European parliamentary elections.

Mr Alex Falconer, veteran left-wing Euro-MP for Mid Scotland and Fife, was suspended along with three other rebels. He immediately protested his innocence of any rule-breaking and will appeal. For the moment, all four retain the party whip.

Some of the 62 members of the European Parliamentary Labour Party - more than half of whom once publicly called for the retention of Clause Four - predicted that 50 of their number would disappear as seats were found forBlairites when Britain moved to a proportional representation system of voting in 1999.

The party confirmed yesterday that the Scottish Labour executive was likely to by-pass grass-roots selection by picking candidates for a closed party list to put before electors if and when Scotland becomes one big Euro-constituency.

This means that EPLP dissidents face being struck off and their political careers ended. Throughout the rest of the UK, the names of candidates will be chosen for the list by Labour's NEC.

''For us, PR means Premature Retirement,'' said Mr Hugh Kerr, the Scots left-wing Euro-MP for Essex West, who was also suspended. Mr Kerr already faces deselection for criticising Mr Blair. He predicted that fewer than 25% of today's Labour Euro-MPs would survive. ''Some will retire and we will lose about 25 seats in the switch to PR - and I am sure there will be places found for lots of Blairettes and Blairistas,'' he said.

Tensions in the group rose during the Parliament's plenary in Strasbourg, when the President of the European Parliament, Mr Jose-Maria Gil-

Robles, stepped in after protests from dissidents led by Mr Ken Coates (Nottingham North and Chesterfield), also now suspended along with Mr Michael Hindley (Lancashire South), who was not in Strasbourg at the time.

Mr Coates argued that Mr Blair was breaking parliamentary rules by interfering with free speech. Mr Gil-Robles referred Mr Blair's insistence that Labour Euro-MPs must support PR and keep silent on internal party selection procedures to the parliament's rules committee.

Mr Falconer was accused of defying the code of practice, which demands loyalty to party policy, when he spoke in a BBC radio interview.

The suspensions now go to an appeals procedure and a report will be sent to the NEC.

Describing the code as ''highly undemocratic'', Mr Falconer said the proposed new voting system was one of the biggest constitutional changes in British history. ''We are asking nothing more than the freedom to air our views in public.''

The Parliament's rules state that members ''shall not be bound by any instructions and shall not receive a binding mandate.''

Mr Coates and Mr Kerr refused to sign the declaration, because they said it conflicted with the parliament's rules.

Mr Coates had warned earlier that he would defy demands to keep silent, saying he had a ''duty to defend the rights of the electorate and our constituents''.

Mr Alex Smith, another left-winger and Euro-MP for South of Scotland, wrote to Mr Blair expressing his ''deep concern'' at the way the code was being interpreted. He protested at the disciplining of three colleagues for ''merely participating in a discussion programme on the radio, something which is normally regarded as being part and parcel of political life''.

Mr Smith and Mr Falconer have both asked the Prime Minister to allow free expression of opinion on the PR issue.

Tories promptly nicknamed the dissidents ''the Strasbourg Four'' and accused Mr Blair of being a control freak trying to stifle freedom of speech.

Mr Coates maintained his defiance and said he would sue Labour for breach of privilege. Mr Kerr accused the party leadership of ''Stalinist tendencies'', adding: ''It shows New Labour is increasingly authoritarian and centralised.''

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