Blair has positive thoughts

Tony Blair is planning to re-focus Labour's election strategy this week with an attempt to lift the campaign on to more positive issues.

The attempt to bring an end to "tit-for-tat" attacks and to inject "passion, vision and conviction" may also be seen as a reflection of the concern in Labour's ranks that too much negative campaigning is turning off voters from the election.

Paddy Ashdown, the Liberal Democrat leader, said a "firestorm" of negative campaigning would damage democracy and alienate more voters.

Anarchists left messages saying: "Don't vote" and "F... the election" daubed on walls in Whitehall after a violent protest march on Saturday. But John Major has ordered more attacks on Labour, which he believes are damaging Labour's election strategy and offer the best chance of overhauling Labour's big lead in the opinion polls.

The switch to more positive issues, away from the attacks on the Tories over sleaze, were seen by Tory strategists as an attempt to relaunch Labour's campaign after it took some direct hits over privatisation, the unions, and Scottish devolution.

Mr Blair plans to focus on the health service on Thursday, and yesterday unveiled his party's latest poster campaign, displaying its key pledges to take more young people off the dole and to reduce youth crime.

Tory strategists were planning to go on the offensive over selection in schools before the final week of campaigning to stop wavering supporters switching to Labour in the final days.

With unemployment figures on Wednesday expected to show a fall, the Tories have decided to attack Labour this week on its promise to take over 250,000 under-25-year-olds off benefit. Yesterday the Tories seized on alleged off-the-record remarks by the deputy Labour leader, John Prescott, on the minimum wage and another in which Mr Prescott was reported to say: "You can't tell all the truth all the time, can you? ... Nobody does."

The Tories intend to keep their attack focused on the economy. With three weeks to go, Mr Major is convinced the signs of cracking in Labour's ranks when under fire have given genuine reasons to raise Tory spirits. Mr Prescott, denying there had been Labour "wobbles", urged colleagues not to panic. "This is what elections are about ... we must continue putting our case with confidence," he said.