Labour in turmoil over new union cover-up claims Critics have called on him to abandon his reform plans, but last night he signalled he was "absolutely determined" to press on with them, describing them as "the right thing to do." He will use a speech to the TUC conference on Tuesday to continue the theme, meaning that he will address directly an already restive trade union movement on its home ground with an unwelcome message. In extracts released from the speech released in advance by his office last night, he says: "We need to build a party truly rooted in the lives of all the working people of Britain once more." That is what my reforms are about. It is the right thing to do. We have to change - and I am absolutely determined to make this change happen. It is the only way to build a truly One Nation party and a One Nation country. The internecine nature of the row has been seen by the Conservatives as a gift - especially as Mr Miliband's allies had portrayed the row as a chance to break the trade union link and create a "Clause 4" moment similar to Tony Blair ditching Labour's historic constitutional pledge to nationalise key industries. By refusing to publish the report, Conservatives believe Mr Miliband has been shown to be weak and still in thrall to the unions, which provide 23 per cent of its funding. Grant Shapps, the Conservative Party chairman, said: "If Ed Miliband can't even stand up to his union paymasters, how can he stand up for hardworking people? Weak Ed Miliband must now stop dithering, come clean and publish Labour's report into the Falkirk selection in full. In an online article for Telegraph.co.uk, Mark Hoban, the employment minister, today widens the Conservative attack on Labour and the unions, accusing them of being "in denial" over the recovering economy. "They rubbish the economy and talk down the type of jobs people are getting," Mr Hoban adds. With the Falkirk row showing no signs of dying down, Mr Miliband also receives a blow today from the latest Sunday Telegraph/ICM opinion poll which sees Labour's lead over the Conservatives cut to just one per cent. Using ICM's "Wisdom Index" formula, in which voters are asked to predict the result of the next general election, Labour is on 32 per cent, with the Tories on 31 per cent, the Liberal Democrats on 16 per cent and the UK Independence Party (Ukip) 12 peer cent. A source close to Mr Miliband denied he was in a weak position despite reports that Unite was threatening to boycott Labour's forthcoming annual conference in Brighton if he had not backed down over the Falkirk selection. Tom Watson, an ally of Unite and Labour's former general election co-ordinator, who quit in July saying that he was a threat to party unity, said it would be "very gracious" if the Labour leader said sorry personally to the two cleared officials. Sources close to Mr Miliband said there was "no prospect" of him apologising to Ms Murphy or Mr Deans. The source said the Labour leader was not apologising and pointed out that Ms Murphy had said she would not be contesting the selection, despite being cleared of rule breaking, for reasons of "party unity." Falkirk remains in "special measures" - allowing the national Labour Party to impose its own candidate. "This is a result for us," the source said. Asked about the withdrawal of evidence, the source replied: "It was not us [Mr Miliband's office] who withdrew evidence. That is a matter for other people. Mr Watson had told Radio 4"s Today programme yesterday: "I've looked at the detail of this since standing down [as election co-ordinator] and the problem they had at the start was that the report was flawed, it was inaccurate factually. Someone in the Labour party owes Karie and Stevie Deans an apology. They have had a terrible few months... and now they've been found innocent of any of the allegations. Asked if this should come from Mr Miliband personally, he added: "It would be a very gracious act if he did." Mr Watson then appeared to clash with Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, who was supporting another potential candidate in Falkirk. Mr Murphy tweeted to Mr Watson, who has complied his own report into the Falkirk case: "You know how to get in touch away from Tory twitter eyes. Meanwhile I'll just get on with supporting Ed's plans for party/trade union reform. Eric Joyce, the current Falkirk MP who is stepping down after being involved in a fight in a House of Commons bar last year, said he believed people had been "prevailed upon" to withdraw evidence which could have implicated Unite members. The internal Labour inquiry - which lifted the suspensions of Ms Murphy and Mr Deans - did not leave a "credible result," Mr Joyce said. Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, said there was no need for Mr Miliband to apologise. "If serious allegations are made, it is the responsibility of the leader of the Labour Party to make sure they are properly investigated," she said. I also think it's right that we continue with the process of looking at the relationship of the unions and the Labour party, and make sure that we change and modernise those relationships that Falkirk was the catalyst for.