Election 2001, Page 2
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May 14
Party Political Broadcast Has Britain changed since 97? Apparently so, as "Lifted" becomes the theme song. Lots of sunny, smiley faces; the achievements coming out of the middle of the screen in big print.
Health, education, social services, pensions, jobs, crime, the economy. There have been changes. Some of the points are dubious; more are statistically unsound.
"A lot has been done; there's a lot still to do. The work goes on, so vote Labour."
The broadcast includes a cameo appearance by Geri Halliwell. As Ginger Spice, she led the group in a ringing endorsement of Thatcherism and the Conservative Party in late 1996. No excuse other than opportunism has been put forward for her change of heart.
Business Daily Labour claims to be the party of business. Tony Blair (Lab, leader) said that Labour was "the party of business and enterprise", while Gordon Brown (Lab, finance) announced a series of initiatives for firms. Labour's claims were bolstered by a letter of support in the Times newspaper from 58 leading businessmen and women with signatories including the Habitat boss, Sir Terence Conran.
Brown announced initiatives which included research and development tax credit for large firms in "industries of the future", and a tax cut for companies prepared to invest in improving their employees' skills.
William Hague (C, leader) brushed off suggestions that his party was losing its traditional support in the business community as he kicked off his battlebus campaign with a visit to Norwich. Hague said that small businessmen were "crying out for a change of government."
Francis Maude (C, finance) scurrilously suggested that the EU intended to harmonise fuel duties upwards. He didn't recall his previous charge that Britain's taxes were already the highest in Europe...
Boyo boy Billy Hague was embarrassed at the launch of the Tories' Welsh manifesto when he was left without a finished document to unveil because of problems with the Welsh translation. An uncorrected version was handed out at the launch at a Cardiff hotel and a full version was on the Internet by the end of the day.
Fuelled again Launching their manifesto at a South London pub (!) was always going to get the UK Independence Party on the good side of the hacks. Desperate to attract the fringe Conservative voter, the UKIP has opted to go for 9p off a litre of fuel. This will be paid for from £20 billion of savings the party hopes to make from a unilateral withdrawal from the EU. Other proposals include...
Bonfire of business regulations
Pensions up £5 a week
Local authorities to administer environmental controls
End Brussels propaganda in schools
Accept more Commonwealth immigration, by ending EU strictures on movement of labour.
Punditocracy "Is Labour a party locked in a four-year time warp - still frozen in a land that is forever 1997?" asked Johnathan Freedland in Het Grauniad. "Take the three legislative priorities for the next term, revealed by Tony Blair to David Frost yesterday. His first three bills would be on education, crime and welfare reform. The Tories instantly branded the prime minister's words an admission of failure: after all, he had made the same promises four years ago." No mention of transport, you'll notice; neither an agreement that the national consensus has moved on - in part, due to Labour's own achievements.
Hodie Tony Blair appears on the BBC's influential Today programme, and is kebabed by John Humphrys. Asked about Vaz and Robinson, two ministers who have clearly misled Parliament, he hummed and hawed and said that nothing has been proven. Only because Vaz refused to co-operate. This from a government that pledged to be whiter than white, purer than pure.
Today's State Of The Parties
| Party | Projected | Change |
| Labour | 394.5 | ---- |
| Conservative | 197 | +4 |
| Lib Dems | 38.5 | +0.5 |
| SNP | 8.25 | -- |
| Overall Majority | 131 | -5 |
Bang! After Labour has fallen away over the past few days, up pops the Tories to fill the void. The majority index falls, but not quite so quickly. A Lab OM of 131 points to 396 seats.
We've been asked why we're quoting spread betting all the time, but are totally ignoring opinion polls. Quite simply, opinion polls have only got the correct result in one of the last five national votes, and that was Election 97 which wasn't exactly difficult. Spread betting correctly predicted the Tories to win the last European election, but thoroughly failed to predict the Labour landslide last time.
May 15
PPB: Play dirty The Tories' first party political broadcast of the campaign is a triumph of negative campaigning. Really, really, *really* negative. The background music is sinister, like The Weakest Link gone nasty. The on-screen captions: "Labour has let out 35,000 convicted criminals - 1,500 robbers, 3,000 burglars. What have they been doing when they should have been serving their time? They have committed more thefts, robberies and burglaries - and two rapes."
On goes the list of attacks, repeating the claim that Labour's taxes on petrol will raise the price of a gallon past £6. Images of an OAP alone in her house.
It's nasty. Frightening. Possibly the most negative PPB ever. Reminds me of the Willie Horton ads that are credited with winning US 88 for George Bush. With the Tories clearly having the best of the campaign so far, I wonder if they had to go negative so quickly.
Eight billion. Maybe more Yesterday's Financial Times led on claims from A Tory Source (believed to be Oliver Letwin, 2nd finance) that the Conservatives planned tax cuts over and above the eight billion already pledged. Working from the proposals of George Bush Jr (Republican candidate, US 2000, lost) the FT calculates that the Tories could be looking at fifth-year cuts of £20 billion on Labour's plans. Michael Portillo (C, Finance) sticks to the £8 billion figure for the first two years, but hints strongly that he would cut taxes further if at all possible.
Again, the debate centres on taxation. This is an area where the Tories plan cuts, and Labour is still very woolly, with a £10 billion hole in their plans. Labour will increase spending at 3.5% per year, the economy (and hence taxes) grow at 2.5%, and something has to give.
PM speaks Tonight's speech in Leeds boils down to... "The role of government is to help people prosper and survive through times of economic change, which will become more pronounced in the future. After securing a stable economy, my next goal is to build a "knowledge economy" backed up by a skilled workforce, good transport infrastructure, access to Europe and competitive business legislation to succeed in world markets. Only in a successful economy can we transform our public services and raise our pensions. Only with economic growth can we maintain our progress towards full employment."
Lib Dem manifesto launch Charles Kennedy launches a "wealth for health" plan in a manifesto promising increased recruitment of doctors and nurses above Labour's targets, funded through a new top tax band. The new-style election manifesto, looking less like a company report and more like a tabloid-format magazine, sees Kennedy underlining the Lib Dems' claim to be the true party of the public services with promises to outdo Labour and the Conservatives on recruitment, pay and funding in education, the health service and the police service.
Six guarantees on schools, health, crime, pensioners, tax and the environment will aim to promote the Lib Dems' contention that honesty over increased tax has greater appeal for many voters than the mutual finger pointing of the other main parties. The 20-page manifesto, featuring a front-page picture of a jacketless Mr Kennedy and an "editorial" written by him, will give less prominence to the Lib Dems' traditional policy priorities of electoral reform and entry to the single currency. Strategists fear both plans could turn off the disaffected supporters it hopes to woo from its rivals.
The main points again:
Health
* 27,500 nurses and midwives and 4,600 doctors to be recruited by 2005.
* Free NHS dental and eye checks to be restored.
* New screening equipment to allow same day diagnosis and treatment.
* All patients needing surgery or an appointment with a consultant to be given a firm date as soon as they are diagnosed.
Education
* Cut average primary school classes to 25.
* Abolish university tuition fees.
Pensions
* Single pensioners' basic pension up £5, £10 for those over 75 and £15 for the over-80s. Couples up £8, £18 and £28.
Crime
* Police numbers up 6,000 on last year, 2,000 more than Labour plans.
* More police hate crime units.
* Royal commission on drugs.
Transport
* Half price travel for students under 19 at all times.
* Local authorities allowed to raise bonds to finance public transport projects.
* Workplace and out of town shopping centre parking charges to cut congestion.
Tax
* 1p on the basic rate of income tax to fund £3.5bn education programme.
* 50% top rate of tax on earnings over £100,000, generating £4.6bn.
Constitution
* Proportional representation for Westminster.
* Devolve more power to the nations and regions.
Civil liberties
* Fast track asylum applications for would-be refugees held in detention centres.
Europe
* Enlargement and reform of the European Union.
* A charter setting a limit to the EU's power.
Defence
* Boycott America's NMD "Son of Star Wars" missile defence system.
It's well thought through, it's coherent, it's well costed, and it's honest. Kudos to the LDs for all that. Whether the party will be able to pick up the floating voter is more interesting. It's a bit of one-nation Toryism, a bit of soft Labour. Could do well.
Today's State Of The Parties
| Party | Projected | Change |
| Labour | 394.5 | ---- |
| Conservative | 195.5 | -1.5 |
| Lib Dems | 39.75 | +1.25 |
| SNP | 8 | -0.25 |
| Overall Majority | 133 | +2 |
Good publicity and a favourable reaction for the Lib Dem manifesto launch gives them a spike upwards. The crunch will come tomorrow, when Labour launches its manifesto. The Lib's profits come at the expense of the Tories, who lose most of the gains they've made over the past week. The gap I mentioned last night, between Labour's price and the corresponding OM, has also been closed.
May 16
Plug The Leader Lib Dem PPB: Charles Kennedy deliveres a travelogue of the North Highlands. A leader who makes policy, doesn't jump on bandwagons, claims the opening title. We see Chuck reviewing his old school photos, explanining his community roots. We see the Kennedys senior, a lot of Chuck's Black Jumper. The party president, with Chuck, going round a market. It's Dame Shirley Williams! And Paddy Pantsdown! "What you see is what you get. Freedom. Justice. Honesty." Play out to Stephen Gateley's "New Beginning."
It's a decent enough PPB, but doesn't exactly stir the cockles either way.
You don't actually do anything to help anybody. Finally, a bit of heckling on the campaign trail. St Tony is at the Queen Elizabeth in Birmingham, visiting the new cancer ward. Sharon Storer, the partner of a leukaemia patient, is not happy. The facilities are atrocious, the toilets are appaling, the nurses' mess room a tatty dump. She confronts a bemused St Tony. He offers to step inside and discuss the matter, but Nicola is going in for the kill. He just swans around, introducing himself to people, but doesn't do anything to help anybody.
It's a slow handclap, officer Jack Straw (Lab, internal affairs) encountered major jeering at the Police Federation conference in Blackpool. They really didn't like Straw claiming that everyone wants to be a police officer, when the forces have never seen a faster march to the exits.
Not to be outdone John Prescott (Lab, Environment, Transport, Regions) is involved in an all-in wrestling bout in Rhyl, North Wales. With a convoy of fuel protesters in town, Prescott was delayed. He walked past a hostile crowd, protesting about farming, steel, foxhunting, the foot and mouth crisis, and transport. One man in the crowd throws an egg. Prescott turns and starts to punch his lights out. The crowd say that Gutlord threw the first punch; The Party says that the protester started it. It's the protester who is arrested, naturally, but with Sky News airing pictures of the event within moments, Labour is clearly shown as the party that just can't tolerate genuine dissent. [Picture here and below: Sky News]
Things aren't much better for Slappy Hague. He's surrounded by a hostile crowd in Queens' Square, Wolverhampton, and has to call in police re-inforcements to move back to his battlebus. He's still inclined to attack. "It's the first time a government has sought re-election by promising to deliver in the next two terms the pledges it broke in the first."
Step off Chuck Kennedy, for the Lib Dems, also attacks Labour. Gordon Brown has failed to cost his budget plans, while the Tories have pledged to cut services.
The Lib Dems withdraw their candidate from Kidderminster, throwing their minimal weight behind a single-issue candidate, campaigning to save Kiddy's hospital. The hospital has been threatened with closure under Labour plans, reversing their previous plots.
Ambition for Britain Labour launches its manifesto.
Tax:
* Repeat of the 1997 election pledge not to raise the basic or top rate of income tax
* Promise of "targeted tax cuts" where they can be afforded.
Health:
* Increased health spending by 6% above inflation each year for the next three years
* 20,000 more nurses, 10,000 more doctors
* Maximum waiting times cut by the end of 2005 from six months to three months for outpatients and from 18 to six months for in-patients.
Education:
* Increased education spending by more than five per cent a year for the next three years
* 10,000 more teachers
* Help with housing costs for teachers in high-cost areas.
Crime:
* Spending on police up an extra £1.6billion a year by 2004
* 6,000 extra police recruits
* Radical reform of the court system
* "Bbill of rights" for victims.
The manifesto fails to make any promise to reduce the overall tax burden, including national insurance, and leaves the way clear for increases in some areas if required. "We will pursue a balanced approach on the economy with stability the foundation, more investment not less and, as affordable, targeted tax cuts on our priorities."
Blair promises "more change, not less" if awarded a second term in power. The manifesto also makes clear that Labour is seeking two more full terms to achieve its aims, and it has no doubt who needs to be in charge - with seven photographs of the Prime Minister and none of his Cabinet colleagues.
On the issue of Britain's entry into the euro, the manifesto sticks to the formula that the British people will be given the final say if there is a referendum. There would be no question of the country being "bounced" into early entry. The strains within the party and the decision to choose the cautious track, where available, are highlighted in the manifesto's treatment of fox hunting. In a gesture to those seeking a ban, it re-affirms the promise to give MPs a free vote and says Parliament will then be enabled "to reach a conclusion" - unlike the last time when the measure was halted by the election.
Other news in brief: A gambler bet £330,000 on Labour winning the general election. He will collect £4,125 if they win.
* Ken Livingstone began campaigning for Labour.
* Oliver Letwin, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, admits speaking to the Financial Times about Tory tax cuts. He denied using the £20bn figure it printed. Millbank's earlier poster (right) fell on stony ground due to a spelling mistaike.
* Confusion over an anti-EU newspaper advert. It claimed that some Labour MPs had supported a referendum on Britain's membership in the EU. Labour denied that they had done so.
Today's State Of The Parties
| Party | Projected | Change |
| Labour | 394.5 | ---- |
| Conservative | 195 | -0.5 |
| Lib Dems | 41.5 | +1.75 |
| SNP | 8 | ----- |
| Overall Majority | 134 | +1 |
These figures are taken around 6:15pm, after the launch of Labour's manifesto, but before John Prescott's brawling. The launch of the manifesto has not given Labour any boost at all, but the Tories are off another half seat. Gainers of the day are the Lib Dems, who move past 40 seats for the first time ever. Even at the last election, the markets indicated around 38 seats. With a cool reaction to a manifesto completely overshadowed by rows involving the party's top brass, Labour look doomed to a fall tomorrow.
May 17
Punch out John Prescott will be interviewed by North Wales Police over last night's boxing match in Rhyl. Prescott made no comment at today's event, in Prestonpans, Scotland; his left hand is clearly bruised. Tony Blair paid tribute to his deputy, saying he's the best he could have.
The mulletted farm worker behind the egg-throwing gave his side of the story. Craig Evans, 29, said he acted out of frustration at the Government's agricultural policy. In a statement read out by friend Barry Henderson, Evans spoke of anger at the winter of discontent suffered by farmers. Asked if he regretted his actions he emphatically shook his head. "This has been a very hard winter. All the problems in the farming industry means there has been little work on the farms recently. And I am angry at the lack of support for farmers and farm workers."
Henderson added: "Craig is a lovely man and anyone in the village would tell you what a smashing lad he is." He went on to describe Evans as a "simple man who keeps ferrets and chickens in the backyard of his house. He collects the eggs from the chickens each morning but I am not sure whether he used his chicken's eggs to throw at John Prescott. Craig is in good heart this morning but he is overwhelmed about what he has done. He does not seem to be hurt or have any marks on his face after the confrontation."
William Hague (C) leads the charge, calling it an example of how Labour gets rattled when faced with genuine voters and things don't go their own way. "He's the Deputy Prime Minister. It's not my policy to hit voters during an election. Cool it, is my advice." The Lib Dems call for greater crowd control and greater restraint.
Tony Blair's been at the Ridings School, Halifax. Voted the worst school in Britain in 1996, the school has been turned around, mainly under policies enacted by the previous Conservative administration. It's now in the top 12% of comprehensives, and Tony takes the credit. Natch.
Away from the boxing * Gerry Adams (SF, Belfast W) predicts Sinn Fein will be given full use of Westminster facilities after the election.
The Conservative parliamentary candidate for Cheltenham pays his £500 election deposit in pound coins. “It’s one of my pledges, I want to keep the pound.”
Ffion Hague today made her first public comments of the election campaign. Bookmakers had been offering odds on the probability of the Conservative leader’s wife opening her mouth. Asked whether she believed the Tory leader could win the election, she said: “I certainly do.”
Ann Widdecombe (C, interior) received an enthusiastic reception at the Police Federation Conference where she promised “more PC’s, less PC.” Compare and contrast with the reception for Labour's rep, Jack Straw, yesterday.
Today's State Of The Parties
| Party | Projected | Change |
| Labour | 392.5 | -2 |
| Conservative | 197 | +2 |
| Lib Dems | 42 | +0.5 |
| SNP | 8 | ----- |
| Overall Majority | 130 | -4 |
I'm not alone in feeling disappointed with Labour over the past couple of days; money has been moving away from them at a rate of knots, and slightly more slowly towards the Tories. The Blue party is now back to their peak level of last Monday, while the Lib Dems continue to set records.
May 18
Asylum William Hague's agenda setting continues with a visit to Dover (Lab 11739), where he tells asylum seekers not to bother coming to the UK. If they do, they'll be slapped in detention camps, which will allow for swift removal of those deemed not to have a claim. The party will also draw up a list of "presumed safe" countries, from which applications would generally be refused.
Opposition parties call the idea "inhuman" (Lib Dems) and "potentially illegal" (Labour.) The UN High Commission for Refugees also brands the idea unworkable, and putting Britain in violation of its obligations under international treaties.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs for just a moment, this is yet another day with the Tories setting the pace. It's only the last two days when Labour managed to dominate the headlines, and neither of those were for reasons that reflected well on the governing party.
Turning to the issues. It's clear that the process needs to be as fast as humanely possible. No-one would dispute that. It's clear that the current policy, where claimants aren't trusted with the coin of the realm but given vouchers to spend at approved stores, is demeaning and isn't working. Equally, it's clear that transit countries - France, Italy, Belgium - are failing *their* treaty obligations to do all they can to stop refugees from travelling on.
An already complex issue is further clouded by the spectre of racism. This is probably the biggest offence against political correctness one can levy. There is a fine line between asylum seekers and immigrants in general, and it's perilously easy to cross that line in the public's mind.
There has been no serious debate on immigration since Enoch Powell's infamous 1967 speech; it's all been done by proxy issues. Race riots filled the vacuum in the 80s, now it's "bogus" "asylum seekers."
The Punditocracy David Aaronovitch, The Independent. Evans deserved to be punched just as much for his stupid grin and absurd mullet as for his close-up assault it's one thing to be part of the lunatic fringe; it's quite another to wear it.
Alice Thompson, The Telegraph: The voters are asking the right questions, but they are not getting any answers. Labour tried to cheat by rigging the questions, even attempting to bribe the journalists with promises of more access, but they have been caught out. A few voters have managed to wriggle under the security cordon and ask awkward questions for the rest of us. These people aren't apathetic or idiotic. They are angry and they are not alone.
The rest of the day Mr Crispin's, a fish-and-chip shop in Bristol, will be a polling station on June 7 because it is easy to find and has good disabled access.
The Scotish National Party launched their manifesto.
An Internet game where players receive a virtual punch if they hit John Prescott with eggs has attracted 140,000 players since it was launched yesterday.
A report into the case of a cancer patient whose furious partner confronted Tony Blair has found that his treatment was 'not compromised'.
Pressure grew for Tony Blair to join a live television debate with the leaders of rival parties.
The Liberal Democrats launched their ten-point plan for rural areas.
The Labour party launched a 'family issues' manifesto which will be sent to one million households in key marginal seats.
Today's State Of The Parties
| Party | Projected | Change |
| Labour | 395.5 | +3 |
| Conservative | 194 | -3 |
| Lib Dems | 42.75 | +0.75 |
| SNP | 8 | ----- |
| Overall Majority | 132 | +2 |
Something of a buyer's market for Labour today, at the expense of the Tories. But note that the Lib Dems climb by *another* 3/4 of a seat. They're up by nigh-on 20% over the past ten days alone. At this rate, they could be topping 50 seats by election night.
May 19
Punchbag John Prescott has been questioned by police over his scuffle with a protester. North Wales police travelled to Queen's Garden Police Station in Hull to question the Deputy Prime Minister, who attended the interview voluntarily. The investigation continues, amid surprise from lawyers that Prescott was not arrested along with Craig Evans.
Pensioners are the prime targets of the politicians today. Labour offers half-price coach travel and £3 on the basic pension; the Tories will give £4 for the over-75s, and buy back fuel allowances and tv licenses for cash if wanted; the Lib Dems will give £5.
Blair (Lab) admits that his 75p per week rise in November 1999 was a mistake. Hague (C) spoke of Labour attacks on pensioners, including the party's raid on pensions funds.
Kennedy leaves Lib Dems This is Ludovic Kennedy, veteran broadcaster and lawyer. He's leaving the party after 45 years and two failed candidacies because of Charles Kennedy's rejection of voluntary euthanasia.
Today's State Of The Parties
| Party | Projected | Change |
| Labour | 396 | +0.5 |
| Conservative | 192.5 | -1.5 |
| Lib Dems | 42.75 | ----- |
| SNP | 8 | ----- |
| Overall Majority | 135 | +3 |
May 20
Fear and Loathing at CCO Today's Torygraph reports their favoured party's election campaign is in crisis with a bitter rift in Conservative Party high command over advertising strategy. Yellow M, the party's advertising agency, is dismayed at a decision by leader William Hague to target core Tory voters rather than floating voters. Party officials reported that confidence in strategy was ebbing. Yellow M has disowned plans drawn up by Hague's Strategy Group to focus on one issue - the single currency - in the final week of the campaign. Ronnie Duncan, campaign account director at Yellow M, opposed the plan strongly on the grounds that it risked alienating some floating voters who wanted Mr Hague to talk more about health and education.
The Conservatives have recently been giving equal weight to public services with posters designed by Yellow M highlighting the lack of nurses and teachers and asking: "You've paid the tax, so where are the . . . ?" More recent posters have made starker claims that taxes would go up under Labour but be cut by the Tories.
One new poster idea at Conservative Central Office feature a map of Europe with southern England joined to northern France. Another has the slogan "In Europe" in red to suggest integration under Labour, with the words "Not Run by Europe" in Tory blue. Both ideas, which are due to be unveiled in a fortnight, have been tested on voters and found to have little impact.
Confident? Us? In a highly unusual move, Tony Blair's spokesman comes close to declaring a landslide Labour victory is virtually assured. Alastair Campbell published private polling data which indicated that Labour's lead has widened from 18 to 22 points since the campaign began. The survey put it on 47 per cent, the Tories on 25 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 13. That could produce a 300-plus Commons majority. The decision to crow over its polls is unusual for Labour because Mr Blair believes boastfulness encourages Labour voters to stay at home.
...or not. Many disillusioned Labour supporters in Trimdon Colliery [Sedgefield, Lab by 25,000] where the Prime Minister has had his constituency home for 18 years, are saying that they will not be voting Labour, for the first time in their lives. Although the former pit village is in solid Labour heartland, local people are frustrated that the Government had fallen so short of their expectations, reports the Torygraph.
Huge pay rises all round An official report recommending a big rise in the minimum wage for young workers, which Labour ministers wanted to bury during the election campaign, has been leaked. Ministers indicate that they will accept its recommendations, but the leaked proposals of the Low Pay Commission will put pressure on Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, to make an announcement before polling day.
The recommendations - an extra 90p an hour for 21-year-olds and around 35p an hour for those aged 18 to 20 from October - would cost industry about £150 million a year. Brown will infuriate the business community if he accepts the proposals but risks a row with the unions if he rejects them. Ministers had hoped to keep the report secret until after polling day.
Panic over the net Jack Straw (Lab, internal affairs) plays to the ongoing moral panic over child sexuality and the internet. He proposes setting up yet another raft of legislation against the tiny problem of child abuse facilitated by the internet. The Tories say this is just a repetition of its policies, articulated eight times over the past year. The Lib Dems suggest that good parental supervision would be a good thing. This is really another excuse for the government to poke its nose into a technology it doesn't understand, probably can't control, and has the capacity to bring it down.
Punditocracy: Staff reporter, Sunday Torygraph.
The value of general election campaigns is that, however certain the outcome may seem, the process itself tests political parties to destruction. That in itself is in the public interest.
In the past two weeks, New Labour has been beset by semi-public feuding amongst its most senior figures. Face-to-face with the electorate, the Prime Minister has encountered brewing anger which has unsettled his party's composure, if not its opinion poll lead.
William Hague has discovered the strengths and limits of his own strategy. Since launching his manifesto with bold speed, he has maintained the initiative and defined the agenda more than many expected. Yet, to the dismay of Conservative officials, the polls fail to budge: Mr Blair's lead is the only fixed point of an otherwise unpredictable and dramatic campaign.
Sunday Times reporters By Friday, the tighter campaign strategy was even more evident. When the Blair Express pulled into a hospital in Boston in Lincolnshire, the prime minister entered through a side entrance, avoiding the press pool's cameraman. Officials did not want Blair filmed with a backdrop of Tory protesters or risk an egg being thrown. Labour minders physically prevented a journalist from talking to a patient who shouted "Shame on you!" at Blair.
Today's State Of The Parties
| Party | Projected | Change |
| Labour | 397 | +1 |
| Conservative | 192 | -0.5 |
| Lib Dems | 42.75 | ----- |
| SNP | 8 | ----- |
| Overall Majority | 137 | +2 |
May 21
Tax and send The Tories challenge Labour over a massive omission from their manifesto: they've not said they won't raise the rates on National Insurance. NI is a tax on incomes, theoretically hypothecated to state pensions, but really income tax paid more by the less well off. Labour refuses to take the bait, Alan Milburn (Lab, treasury) refuses to give any form of commitment.
Tony Blair (Lab, leader) visits public services on the M25, a key swathe of target seats for both parties. He swans around, split from usual voters.
William Hague (Con, leader) visits Northampton, where there are two of Labour's most marginal seats; then delivers a speech in Southport, a target from the Lib Dems. Hague's walkabout in Northampton is cut short following heckling by left-wing protesters.
The Environment is the key for Charles Kennedy, working on a forestry project in Chislehurst, then shooting to the Eden Programme in Cornwall.
The Monster Raving Loony party launches their manifesto, containing a depressing lack of silly policies. In fact, it contains no policies at all. A guaranteed vote winner, obviously.
PEB: Socialist Labour Party Ricky Tomlinson, actor from the Royale Family. Discussing his history, how miners staged demonstrations in his support in the 70s.
Old Labour - the memory of Eric Heffer. Heffer was MP for Liverpool until his death in 1991.
How health waiting lists have one up, and spending is down. "Our health service was once regarded as one of the best in the world." By whom? The NHS has never been world class. Spend £15bn there, slashing defence by 2/3.
How Labour's selected a millionaire for St Helens South.
"Britain needs an education system that meets the need of all working class children... Student grants must be restored." My word! It's the rhetoric of student politics. Things *must* be done. Don't bother to explain why, just do it!
And onwards. "The only way to tackle poor pensioners is to restore the link between earnings and pensions." What about promoting private funding? Fund it by pulling out of the EU.
Arthur Scargill on privatisation. "A majority of people want to see these industries back in public ownership." And your sources are..?
And the Socialist Labour Party can tackle all the -isms.
Oh my. This really isn't a party that wants to win converts on their logical policies, is it. Lucky to save their deposits outside the Old Labour heartlands; may well run that party close in some of them.
A telling quote from the Torygraph: 200 seats is the best the Conservatives can hope for.
Today's State Of The Parties
| Party | Projected | Change |
| Labour | 406 | +9 |
| Conservative | 180.5 | -11.5 |
| Lib Dems | 45.25 | +2.5 |
| SNP | 8 | ----- |
| Overall Majority | 153 | +16 |
Looks like the Torygraph is being over-optimistic. Is there no ceiling to Labour's projection, now just 13 seats down on the last election?
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