The shadow Chancellor will avoid spelling out details, pending a review of waste on public spending, but senior party officials confirmed that tax cuts would be at the centre of the Tory election campaign.In an interview with The Independent, Mr Willetts, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, whose Havant constituency includes one of the most deprived council estates in England, said he wanted to see the Tories “do things that help low-income families”.He added: “A Conservative debate over the next few months about which taxes we are able to reduce over time is the right way to go. “It would be good to ease the burden of tax on those families finding it hard to make ends meet.”Mr Willetts said the poorest 20 per cent of the population, including many pensioners, were paying the highest proportion of tax under Labour. I very much hope and believe that those tax reductions will lift the burden on the people I represent here It’s very important that we do that,” he said. One of Michael Howard’s Shadow Cabinet members last night appealed to him to focus tax cuts on “those …

finding it hard to make ends meet”.
In a clear message to Mr Howard to avoid trying to win back the Tory core vote with a shift to the right, David Willetts challenged the Conservative leader to “go with the grain of human nature” and “help families that are under stress” by cutting their taxes rather than the taxes of the wealthiest.Oliver Letwin will today promise to cut five taxes that he will list as unfair: council tax, inheritance tax, income tax and national insurance, stamp duty and tax on pensions. His allies are sure Mr Blair will not be able to resist stepping down for four years.Tam Dalyell, the veteran Labour MP, said if Mr Blair tried to hold on to office, a “stalking horse” candidate could run against him, because of the anger of the Iraq war. The Independent knows of at least two Labour MPs on the left who could be persuaded after the election to run against Mr Blair.. If the party feel in any way that the personal ambitions of individuals threaten the possibility of our party winning the next election – because we do have to win it, don’t take it for granted – I think they will feel angry about that.”So let’s keep our eye on the main ball and that is to convince the electorate to elect another Labour government under the leadership of Tony Blair.”Mr Brown, who has formed a close alliance with Mr Prescott, knew Mr Blair intended to announce he would stand for a full third term. “The full wrath of the party, I think, will be visited on those who decide to threaten that and feed any speculation,” he said on the BBC’s Breakfast with Frost yesterday.”Let’s face it, there will be a lot of talk of ‘a senior source said’ or ‘friends of so and so said’, but it means absolutely nothing provided no candidate or prospective candidate confirms it Every one of us has got to focus on the election. “The unity of purpose that this Government has is important both to the Labour party and the country.

Nothing should divert or distract us from the unity of purpose that is necessary for Britain to be a successful economy in the in the years ahead.”Mr Prescott bluntly warned rival ministers hoping to succeed Mr Blair not to damage Labour’s chances of winning a historic third term. In a carefully orchestrated operation, they appealed to rival camps, including supporters of Mr Brown and ministers with ambitions to replace Mr Blair, to hold off their campaigns for the leadership until Mr Blair stands down.Mr Brown told journalists he wanted to see a “unity of purpose” in the Labour party ahead of the general election. In particular, the Prime Minister was anxious to scotch the speculation that he had kept Mr Brown “out of the loop” after reports from Washington, where the Chancellor was at a G7 meeting, that he had acted while he was out of the country, “like an African coup”.The Labour leadership was also alarmed that with some union leaders declaring yesterday for Mr Brown, the contest for the leadership would overshadow the campaign for the general election.Rebekah Wade, editor of The Sun, and Martin Newland, the editor of The Daily Telegraph, were among those on the Prime Minister’s call list. He is also believed to have spoken to editors of Sunday newspapers to try to avoid speculation about his departure getting out of his control.The Prime Minister’s message was reinforced publicly by John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Chancellor in Washington. Tony Blair has telephoned the editors of several national newspapers from Chequers to try to calm the furore over the battle for the succession. He denied speculation that his decision to step down after a third term had exacerbated the divisions with Gordon Brown.
The Prime Minister’s decision to handle his own “spin-doctoring” while recuperating from his heart operation underlined the desperation in Downing Street to avoid last week’s announcement backfiring on Mr Blair.

I have done my best for the party and I am happy with my record, the party is still growing. I fully anticipate serving a full four-year term as leader.”UKIP also revealed yesterday the former TV chef, Rusty Lee, is the latest celebrity to join their parliamentary candidates for the next election.. Mr Kilroy-Silk said he would be standing for the Westminster Parliament at the next election, and is expected to stand against Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary.Last night Mr Knapman hit back, denying he had offered to stand down, saying he was “happy” with his record as leader and had no intention of resigning to let Mr Kilroy-Silk lead the party into the general election. “If I ever felt it was in the party’s interests for me to stand down I would certainly consider it,” he said “I am here to serve. I think I could turn it into a very effective, electoral fighting force,” Mr Kilroy-Silk said on the BBC’s Breakfast with Frost show. “What everybody tells me they want is for the current leader to accept the inevitable and to stand down.