Peter Hain was forced onto the defensive today over the closure of factories staffed by disabled workers.

As the work and pensions secretary prepared to give a speech on social justice to the TUC congress in Brighton, a union delegate presented him with copies of controversial letters outlining redundancy packages for around 2,500 workers in the 43 Remploy factories earmarked for closure.

Protesters also stood up and held up copies of the letters, which the GMB says workers received last week, despite the fact that talks over the closure of half of the country’s Remploy sites are still ongoing.

Mr Hain thanked the GMB for giving him copies of the letters, insisting that this was the first time he had seen them.

He told the conference: “Redundancy quotations were not sent out with my authorisation. I have never seen them before.”

His comments raised eyebrows among union activists. One union source said: “It clearly looks as if Peter Hain is not in chare of what is happening at Remploy. He needs to get a grip.”

Mr Hain went on to deliver his speech, on the theme of putting social justice at the heart of the government’s work and pensions policies.

He said he wanted to see “both change and justice” for Remploy workers.

Mr Hain said that the expectations and ambitions of disabled people had risen immeasurably since segregated sheltered factories were set up for injured servicemen after the second world war.

People with disabilities now wanted more participation in the mainstream workforce, he said.

But he pledged that provision for sheltered employment would continue for those for whom it was the best option.

Mr Hain has appointed former Nupe and Unison national officer Roger Poole to chair new consultation meetings between Remploy and the trade unions to see if an agreement is possible.

He said that the dispute was about proposals for change, not the need for change.

“So let me be clear. Remploy has a good future. Every one of its workers will get the protection and the opportunities they deserve … That’s why I want a negotiated settlement between trade unions and management.

“Both sides agree that change is necessary, and that Remploy has a future, both providing employment services and jobs in factories.”

Earlier, Phil Davies of the GMB had emptied copies of the Remploy redundancy notice on the floor of the TUC congress, condemning it as “shameful”.

Mr Davies, the union’s national officer, attacked the management of Remploy as well as the government over its handling of the future of the factories.

He said that the GMB had received assurances that no redundancy notices would be handed out, but he claimed that they were sent to factories last week.

“The secretary of state has either been misled by the chief executive of Remploy, and if that’s the case he should be sacked, or the secretary of state has misled the GMB, and that is more serious,” he said.

“This despicable board of Remploy directors has acted against the interests of the British people.”

Echoing an infamous speech made by Neil Kinnock attacking the leftwing Militant Tendency in 1986, Mr Davies said: “We have the grotesque chaos of a Labour government scuttling around handing out redundancy notices to disabled workers. What an absolute disgrace.”

Unions have mounted a campaign to keep the factories open and are balloting the disabled workers involved over whether they want to take strike action.

The result of the ballot will be announced during the Labour party conference later this month.

The TUC congress today supported the campaign and called on the government to place a moratorium on the closures.

Remploy - whose factories employ thousands of disabled people - was set up in 1946 to provide work for disabled ex-servicemen. It receives an annual grant from the government to fund training, development and the finding of employment for disabled people.

Mr Hain also used his speech to promise urgent action to reverse the “macabre toll” of rising deaths and injuries on building sites as part of his commitment to put social justice “in the workplace”.

The secretary of state said that the booming construction industry should not be at the expense of the safety of its workers.

“I will not tolerate a continued increase in construction deaths. Under Labour, booming house building: yes. Booming infrastructure building: yes. But not with the blood of construction workers in the foundations.”

Mr Hain has convened a special forum bringing together business, the Health and Safety Commission and the main trade unions representing workers to reverse the death toll.

He described as “completely unacceptable” HSE figures published today, which showed that nearly one in three construction refurbishment sites inspected put the lives of workers at risk.

“The HSE closed down 244 of the sites immediately, but safety should never have been compromised in the first place,” said Mr Hain.

In a nod to current tensions with government over a raft of policy areas, particularly public sector pay and civil service cuts, Mr Hain said that the Labour government’s achievements for British people “dwarf any disagreements” it has had with trade unions over the past decade.

The minister, who received backing from a number of unions in his failed deputy Labour leadership bid earlier this year, warned that the alternative was a Tory government intent on ripping up health and safety law and workers’ rights.

“Your members have been angry from time to time,” he told delegates. “I understand that. Over the years we made mistakes. We got some things wrong. But, our achievements together dwarf any disagreements. Far, far, more should unite than divide us.”

Looters, cowboy builders and disease are threatening a new wave of problems for homeowners who suffered the worst of June’s extraordinary rains and floods.

Police and members of the public are on the alert for potential looting in areas where homes have been left empty and cars abandoned. South Yorkshire police said extra-high-visibility patrols had been brought in because of residents’ concerns and warned they would bring ‘the full might of the law’ down on anybody caught looting.

Bob Dyson, the force’s deputy chief constable, said: ‘There have been rumours of burglary and theft in empty homes but we have not received any reports of this. No one deserves to be a victim of crime but to take advantage of people affected by the flooding would be viewed severely by us. Our officers would bring the full might of the law to bear on anyone caught doing that.’

In Toll Bar, near Doncaster, resident Mark Birkby said four to six men from the village were keeping vigil throughout the day and night because police were not doing enough.

Residents said they had caught people trying to break into a car and stopped other outsiders from entering the flooded area. ‘We had nothing here at all, no help from police or council, nothing at all for days,’ Birkby added.

Mary Dhonau, co-ordinator of the National Flood Forum (NFF), said she had reports of extra police patrols in Sheffield and a woman in Cumbria who had been burgled. Looting was also a problem after previous floods in Worcester, added Dhonau, who lives in the city. ‘It’s a widespread problem,’ she said. ‘That’s the kind of stories people have to go through: every single person who’s been flooded has ongoing personal issues [and] very often flooding can just break them.’

As emergency services braced yesterday for fresh problems after bad weather brought more rain to already sodden areas, the Environment Agency said it was also preparing for the big clean-up. Peter Holmes, the agency’s flood risk manager for the badly hit Ridings area, warned people to stay out of the water to avoid disease from sewage that has flooded out of drains and rats, and use protective clothing, gloves and disinfectant when they clean up.

Holmes also warned homeowners to watch out for cowboy builders, who targeted people after the 2000 floods, carrying out shoddy work or taking money up-front for work they didn’t do. The EA advises people to contact their insurance company.

Dhonau of the NFF added: ‘It’s an absolutely terrible issue. I can almost hear the spurs heading north at the moment, the cowboys going up there. Even if it means you’re going to be displaced for longer, wait until you can get a good builder.’

Tens of thousands of homes and businesses are expected to wait a week or more for water levels to recede, even without taking predictions of more violent storms this week into account. Experts warned that it would take months to repair the damage, at a cost now expected to top Britain’s record of 1.3bn during the massive floods in the autumn of 2000. It is believed that seven people died as a result of the floods.

Farmers also warned that crops of wheat, barley, hay, potatoes, peas and soft fruit were threatened by the heavy rains and waterlogged fields, with the damage done across Europe already pushing up prices for some cereals.

At lunchtime yesterday the agency had five severe flood warnings in force along the River Don in South Yorkshire, and another 31 flood warnings in place. Spokesman Joe Giacomelli said the rain heading in from the west was now thought to be less severe than feared earlier, with between 15 and 20mm expected to fall, but the agency was still on alert. ‘It’s better, but any further rainfall is going to exacerbate the situation.’

The agency said last week’s flooding could not be blamed on poor defences alone because rainfall in some areas was at levels only expected once in every 150 years. In parts of Yorkshire there was one sixth of the average June rainfall in 12 hours last week.

The Met Office said rainfall in June was two or three times the long-term average in parts of the country. The unsettled weather is expected to continue until the middle of this week.

Adorning the corridors of Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road ground are mementoes of former glories that with each passing year have offered a more painful reminder of the club’s decline into the nether regions of English football. This morning, however, an image of Michael Jackson lifting the League One play-off trophy at Wembley will take pride of place alongside souvenirs of Blackpool’s illustrious history.

In overwhelming Yeovil, Simon Grayson’s side secured a club-record 10th consecutive victory and will join Scunthorpe United and Bristol City in next season’s Championship. Blackpool have spent the past 29 years in the bottom two tiers of the Football League but the sight of Wembley half-decked in tangerine, and the performance of a set of players who began the season with one win from 12 games, suggests that Blackpool could soon re-establish themselves in the higher echelons of English football.

When Keigan Parker collected possession inside the Yeovil half on 52 minutes, stepped inside two defenders and curled the most delicious shot past Steve Mildenhall from 25 yards, the Seasiders’ dreams were confirmed.

“This is the best day in my career by a mile,” said the 24-year-old Parker who joined from St Johnstone in 2004. “I’ve scored against Celtic and Rangers before in front of big crowds but to come here and win at Wembley is just amazing and something I’ll treasure forever.”

It was here that Stanley Matthews almost singlehandedly inspired Blackpool to glory in the 1953 FA Cup final and, in the same year, Blackpool players comprised almost half the England team that played Hungary in a friendly. Three years later they finished runners-up to Manchester United in the top flight.

Much of what followed can best be described as a landslide down the football pyramid but, with investment from the Latvian businessman Valeri Belokon and his pledge to achieve Premiership football by 2011, there is a new sense of history in the making at Blackpool.

“Everyone, including myself, laughed when [Belokon, the club president] first came on the scene in June last year and he wanted us in the Championship in two years and the Premiership in five years,” said Grayson. “We’ve obviously achieved the first part. Not quite sure if we can get the second one in five years but you’ve got to have belief.”

That belief was apparent from the outset with Claus Jorgensen, Adrian Forbes, Robbie Williams and their 32-year-old leading scorer Andy Morrell all going close in the first 15 minutes. When the 22-year-old Williams converted a free-kick following a senseless trip by Terrell Forbes on Parker, Blackpool’s lead was richly deserved.

Blackpool finished last season only three points safe of relegation but Grayson pleaded for time and, in his first full season as manager, produced a team that will not look out of place among the likes of Sheffield United, Charlton and Watford.

Nothing will help soothe Yeovil’s feelings of deflation this morning but they can take heart from an over-achieving season, only their fourth in the league, and one graced by a memorable play-off semi-final against the twice European Champions Nottingham Forest in which they overturned a 2-0 home deficit to win 5-2 at the City Ground. Their average home gate is under 6,000 and their supporters were in full voice at a stadium that holds more than double the population of Yeovil.

This, however, was a step too far. Yeovil came close to equalising when Arron Davies’s free-kick was tipped on to the crossbar by Paul Rachubka on the stroke of half-time but any reward from a match in which they were outclassed would have been harsh on Blackpool.

Marcus Stewart, who scored for Ipswich Town in the last play-off final at the old Wembley, endured a miserable afternoon, epitomised when the 34-year-old headed Wayne Gray’s cross into the ground and over Rachubka’s crossbar unmarked from six yards out.

By that stage, however, Parker had already doubled the lead and further opportunities, which would have ensured this new stadium’s biggest winning margin, were missed. Blackpool finished third in League One this season and were the division’s top scorers - their promotion to the second tier is thoroughly merited.

Man of the match: Keigan Parker

The Scot has been eclipsed by the top scorer Andy Morrell for most of the season but, in taking his goals tally to 16, Parker ensured that this final will be remembered for only one Blackpool striker.

Best moment Surging down the left, breezing inside two defenders and unleashing an effort which bent inside the far post to seal promotion.