Daily Election Bulletin
Bite-sized election tit-bits for those not able to sustain a large election column
Today was seen by many as an opportunity to set the political agenda for the bank holiday weekend. Let's hope they were wrong.
New Labour
Labour sought to move the argument back to their base today and focused on the economy. Many commentators expected Blair to be limping after shooting himself in the foot with yesterday's release of Lord Goldsmith's 7 March 2003 legal advice.
Teflon Tony remained untouchable, though, and said he hope he'd "drawn a line under the issue". He's now underlined the issue so much that it now sticks out like a beacon.
Conservatives
The Tories sought to show the softer side of their fascination with immigration today. Michael Howard said that asylum reforms would be "humane". This is pretty defensive stuff on a day that the Tories should have been hammering away at Blair.
The disinclination of the Tories and the LibDems to land the killer blow on Blair over the lies about the war indicates that New Labour timed the release very well indeed. The gradual drip of leaks means that everyone was completely bored of the story by the time the damning evidence was available. Both opposition parties know that the ground is contaminated and won't play on it.
The Liberal Democrats
The LibDems were talking about pensions today. A riveting combination.
Today was seen by many as an opportunity to set the political agenda for the bank holiday weekend. Let's hope they were wrong.
New Labour
Labour sought to move the argument back to their base today and focused on the economy. Many commentators expected Blair to be limping after shooting himself in the foot with yesterday's release of Lord Goldsmith's 7 March 2003 legal advice.
Teflon Tony remained untouchable, though, and said he hope he'd "drawn a line under the issue". He's now underlined the issue so much that it now sticks out like a beacon.
Conservatives
The Tories sought to show the softer side of their fascination with immigration today. Michael Howard said that asylum reforms would be "humane". This is pretty defensive stuff on a day that the Tories should have been hammering away at Blair.
The disinclination of the Tories and the LibDems to land the killer blow on Blair over the lies about the war indicates that New Labour timed the release very well indeed. The gradual drip of leaks means that everyone was completely bored of the story by the time the damning evidence was available. Both opposition parties know that the ground is contaminated and won't play on it.
The Liberal Democrats
The LibDems were talking about pensions today. A riveting combination.
