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A row has flared in the Labour Party after a leading Blairite MP called for inheritance tax to be abolished.
Stephen Byers' demands for the next Labour leader to scrap the controversial tax were sharply rebuffed by the Treasury and a former Cabinet colleague.
The tax, levied on all estates worth more than £285,000, was "a penalty on hard work, thrift and enterprise", the former transport secretary said.
Replacing it with higher green taxes would enable Tony Blair's successor to demonstrate to the middle classes that Labour remained "relevant and meaningful", he added.
But the Treasury dismissed his proposals as impractical and a series of Labour MPs, including Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling, distanced themselves.
Mr Darling said: "It may make for a headline, but I don't think it makes for a prudent tax and spend policy."
Fellow Blairite MPs turned on Mr Byers.
Rhondda MP Chris Bryant said: "It seems extraordinary to me that a Labour MP should attack a Labour Government with a right-wing proposal that was rejected by Margaret Thatcher as being too extreme."
Birmingham Erdington MP Sion Simon added: "Mr Byers is completely isolated on this. Any suggestion that the middle classes cannot trust Gordon Brown is untrue."
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