By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

It was always likely that once the firefighters' strike escalated into eight-day stoppages, hopes of an early resolution would fade.

There was a small window of opportunity between the end of the first 48-hour strike, and last week's longer action.

But that window slammed shut. Few believe there is now any chance of averting the second eight-day strike which is due to start on Wednesday.

It is clear the government is digging in for a long haul, possibly lasting well into the New Year.

Fire minister Nick Raynsford - in a comment that will fuel firefighters' fears the government is out to break them - talked about the dispute lasting for months.

Attitudes have certainly hardened over the past few days with the two sides now locked in what has all the hallmarks of a full-blown political dispute.

Andy Gilchrist...the new Scargill?

There was always a reluctance to start drawing parallels between this action and the 1984/5 miners' strike.

But that comparison now looks far less absurd. Whether this dispute really escalates to that level of intensity and bitterness still remains to be seen.

After all, whatever else he wants, Tony Blair does not want to shut down the majority of fire stations as Margaret Thatcher did with the mines.

Dangerous phase

But what is certain is that the dispute has entered a new and far more dangerous phase, with arguments over the rights and wrongs of the firefighters' case set to become a secondary issue.

Last week's revelation that there were government plans to cut jobs in the service represented a significant shift in the battleground.

It confirmed fears among some firefighters that this was always the government's true agenda.

Those looking for evidence to support the theory that the government had deliberately engineered this dispute believed they now had it.

It also seemed this revelation, combined with John Prescott's widely-ridiculed handling of the crisis, might help shore up public opinion in favour of the FBU.

'Real Labour'

But things have now changed once again as a result of FBU leader Andy Gilchrist's claim he would like to replace New Labour with Real Labour.

From the very start of this dispute, Mr Blair has been suggesting it was politically motivated.

He was never prepared to say so openly - preferring to use words like "Scargillite" away from the TV cameras and microphones - and there was precious little evidence of it.

Until now.

At the weekend, Mr Gilchrist handed him what he wanted with an overtly political statement and, as a result, gave the government a huge propaganda weapon.

His statement may have had absolutely nothing to do with the strike or the way he is pursuing it.

Tactical mistake

But in the battle for public support, it was a huge tactical mistake.

The prime minister no longer has to suggest the FBU is engaged in a campaign to defeat the government - Mr Gilchrist appears to have said it for him.

The truth, of course, is very different. Mr Gilchrist has made such comments on numerous previous occasions.

In fact he was elected FBU leader primarily on an anti-Blair ticket - as has every other recently-elected union leader.

But this was probably not the time to re-state his opposition to New Labour quite so loudly.

Meanwhile, despite the prime minister's repeated claim that he has no intention of outlawing firefighters' strikes in future, that now seems to be on the government's agenda.

What is also clear, as it has been from the start, is that Mr Blair is not about to lose this fight.

Cannot afford to lose

Politically, he simply cannot afford to. So it appears the firefighters are doomed to lose.

The best they can probably hope for is a substantial, but staged pay rise and a much-reformed and smaller service.

Before we get to that stage, however, it seems likely there will be a long and bitter dispute with an increasingly nasty propaganda campaign being waged through the media.

There will, however, be consequence which, once he has won the battle, might decide the final outcome of Mr Blair's war with the wider labour movement.

That relationship was always strained. This strike may well finally destroy it.

Only then will we see whether the prime minister's desire to cut himself free of the labour movement was an historic opportunity or a monumental mistake.