Cameron bottles out of TUC invite

The news spelt victory for many unions and those in the left movement who had campaigned fiercely to persuade the TUC to withdraw the invite and pile pressure on Mr Cameron to not come.

The TUC claimed that Mr Cameron had turned down the offer because his wife was expecting their baby around the time of the conference in Manchester.

Rail union RMT even threatened to lead a mass walkout of delegates, which would leave Mr Cameron's words "echoing around an empty hall" if he had accepted the invite.

Activists at the union had already won votes calling for the invitation to Mr Cameron to be withdrawn at the north-west and south-west regions of the TUC and at local trade union councils in towns and cities up and down Britain.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said he was delighted that the campaign to stop Mr Cameron addressing the TUC had been successful and that the PM had "got the message" to pull out.

He said: "At a time when his Con-Dem government is lining up the most savage attack on working people and public services since the 1930s, it would have been a travesty to have him address our movement in the autumn.

"The invitation to Mr Cameron was a class A mistake and now at least the trade union movement can get on with its real business, which is how we build the widest possible industrial and community campaign to fight the Con-Dems rather than having a lecture on fiscal fascism forced down our throats by its architect."

Although the TUC confirmed Mr Cameron had turned down the invite, it said Business Secretary Vince Cable had accepted the offer to address Congress instead.

Prison Officers Association general secretary Steve Gough said Mr Cable was the lesser of two evils but felt the decision to send him instead was further evidence that the Liberal Democrats were being used to do the Tories' dirty work.

He said: "As well as being prime targets for getting the blame for anything that goes wrong, it seems that the Lib Dems can be handpicked to do the work the Tories don't fancy.

"I don't think Mr Cable is at all comfortable with what is going on around him and I believe he is being used."

But he described Mr Cameron pulling out as a "victory for common sense.

"It's a bit like letting a burglar into your house to show him around before he robs the place," Mr Gough said.

"It would have been quite inappropriate with the amount of cuts Mr Cameron has planned."