After Demon Eyes, Tories portray Blair as Big Brother

The Conservative party has drawn up plans to capitalise on the popularity of the Big Brother television gameshow, by launching a campaign portraying Tony Blair as an "all-seeing, all-taxing" embodiment of the state.

The Conservative party has drawn up plans to capitalise on the popularity of the Big Brother television gameshow, by launching a campaign portraying Tony Blair as an "all-seeing, all-taxing" embodiment of the state.

The publicity blitz will accuse the Prime Minister of interfering in the lives of individuals and businesses through the imposition of more regulations and new taxes. The "Big Brother" message will also highlight Labour's attempts to bring in a new law to allow police and Government agencies to monitor every e-mail sent in the UK.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, due to be introduced later this year, will allow the interception and surveillance of all e-mail traffic, whether personal or professional. Business worries about the draconian nature of the legislation prompted the Department of Trade and Industry to extend consultation on it but the Conservatives are keen to use the proposals as a classic example of Labour's desire to get involved in the private affairs of the public.

Although all ministers will be targeted, Mr Blair's own image could form a centrepiece of the "Big Brother" campaign.

In an echo of the party's "Demon Eyes" posters at the last election, some Tories want to ape the current TV show's logo and use a picture of Mr Blair's eyes instead. Archie Norman, the Tory Environment spokesman, told The Independent that the Opposition was determined to highlight the Government's tendency to interfere. He said: "Labour's nanny state is Big Brother writ large - whether it's Tessa Jowell showing people how to wash their hands or Government satellites beaming orders to drivers.

"This is the most intrusive, interfering and meddlesome lot of ministers this country has ever seen. And they'll pay the price when the country votes on who gets to stay in the House."

John Redwood, the head of the Conservative's Parliamentary Campaigns Unit, said the idea would capture the public imagination. He said: "Blair and all his legal friends are trying to tie us all up in legal knots. Big Brother has been at work on small businesses, making them pay even bigger bills and higher taxes.

"But it is in e-commerce especially that Blair has proved he is the Bigger Brother. The Government's bill is effectively a snooper's charter, allowing the state to read all our e-mails. George Orwell wrote fiction but this is fact."

William Hague returns to work tomorrow and is expected to kick-start his party's autumn campaigning with new policy announcements and attacks on the Government.

The huge popularity of the Channel 4 gameshow, particularly among younger people, has been observed keenly by all the main parties and they are eager to use it politically. Labour has devised its own Big Brother-style website game, which allows the public to vote out different members of the Shadow Cabinet.