Blair places 'war on terror' at heart of election campaign

Tony Blair has decided to confront opponents of the Iraq war head on by placing the "war on terror" at the heart of Labour's campaign in the coming general election.

The Prime Minister has privately admitted that attempts to "move on" from Iraq are doomed to failure. He has ordered a new "twin-track" strategy for the election, expected this spring, based on the themes of "opportunity and security".

The Labour Party's senior strategists plan to make a virtue of Mr Blair's track record as a war leader at a time of increased terrorist threat. They were put on alert yesterday for the prospect of a visit to Britain in February by President George Bush. The White House confirmed a tour of European countries to build support for the war on terror.

Mr Blair received an endorsement from President Bush as a "steady, rock-solid leader" in "troubled times" on his recent visit to the United States. The Prime Minister's closest allies say there is no point "bewailing" the focus on events in Iraq, and that Labour must do all it can to turn it to electoral advantage.

Plans to fight the next election on a domestic agenda of public service reform have been shelved. Instead the party will present security as a necessary condition for opportunity at every level. Critics will claim that Labour has decided to fight a negative campaign based on exploiting voters' fears.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, sought to head off the assault yesterday. "We have to provide ... stability and security if people are going to hear the messages about opening their hearts and minds to others," he said in a speech. "We want to win an election based on hope, not fear, but knowing that you don't give people hope by dismissing their fears."

Meanwhile, Mr Blair has quietly invoked anti-sleaze rules to explain his failure to pick up a US congressional medal awarded to him 15 months ago. The Prime Minister again failed to pick up the award, given for his "steadfast stand against evil", on his trip to Washington last week.

In a little-noticed parliamentary answer last week, however, Mr Blair justified his failure by reference to the ministerial code of conduct.

Section 90 of the code appears to give the Prime Minister the perfect excuse to avoid the potentially embarrassing award ceremony until he has retired. It reads: "It is a well-established convention that ministers should not, while holding office, accept decorations from foreign countries."