TRADE unions are making themselves irrelevant by fighting government reforms to schools and hospitals, former Health Secretary Alan Milburn has said.

In an attack on opponents of controversial polices such as foundation hospitals, the Darlington MP accused the unions of "setting their face against change".

He said they were dramatically out of step with the rest of the Labour movement, which was anxious to press ahead with shake-ups of the public services.

Mr Milburn, who quit the Cabinet last summer, spoke during an interview to announce his appointment as president of Progress, a Labour magazine to pursue Blairite ideas for a third term.

Mr Milburn said: "The trades unions are lagging behind and need to catch up. Otherwise they will render themselves irrelevant. Over recent years some in the union movement, not all, seem to be setting their face against change."

Mr Milburn pointed to his childhood as the reason why he was determined that there should be greater choice and diversity in public services.

He said: "I grew up on a council estate in County Durham and it was the council and not my family who decided the colour of my front door.

"Since then I have believed one thing: that it should be my choice and nobody else should dictate the course of my life."