Ides of March: PM, Rudd set for battle Opposition Leader Tony Abbott surprises Kevin Rudd as he says hello at Michelle Grattan's farewell drinks Parliament House in Canberra. A FINAL showdown between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd could come within weeks, as tensions in the Labor caucus rose yesterday over the leaking of a letter critical of the former PM. Supporters of Mr Rudd yesterday accused the Prime Minister's office of circulating a damaging letter from a member of the public to the media and among the caucus. Claiming it was in retaliation for Mr Rudd's public attacks over the failed mining tax, several Rudd backers claimed there was now a push within his ranks to "finish the thing before the end of March." After today, Parliament is not due to return for a full sitting until March 12. Mr Rudd has been privately counselled by some of his key backers to pull back from his public campaign for fear it could spark another showdown before they are ready. And a source close to the PM said Ms Gillard would not rise to the bait and had no intention of goading the former PM while she still had the numbers behind her. But many in Parliament believe another challenge to Ms Gillard's leadership is being hatched. MPs have been seen openly coming and going from Mr Rudd's office this week. One Rudd supporter yesterday admitted that the issue was coming to a head but wanted to give the appearance that "nothing was going on." "There is nothing happening, no counting, nothing going on," they said. It may be true that no one has switched allegiance this week. But it would be fair to say though that a lot of MPs are becoming increasingly despondent about their prospects after the disasters of the past few weeks. Another MP, who supports Mr Rudd, said: "Every day is a blow, every day there is something that dents the confidence of members in the leadership...caucus members are becoming increasingly aware of the budget problems we have got in an election year." An MP who backed Mr Rudd in the leadership ballot last year said caucus members were "shaking their heads" over the $126 million return on the mining tax and reports yesterday that a $4 billion hole could be left in the Budget when the carbon tax moves to an ETS if the price plunges, as predicted. Chief Government Whip Joel Fitzgibbon, a key supporter of Mr Rudd, said caucus had only recently been cautioned by Ms Gillard about leaking to the media. "Journos are going to be pretty busy if MPs are now going to adopt the practice of passing them on to the media," he told the ABC. "The caucus has recently been counselled about this type of behaviour and I'm disappointed by it," he said, referring to Ms Gillard's recent comments at a caucus meeting. Mr Rudd would not comment.