Spin and voting forms – election prep kicks in

The Tories accuse Brown using Iraq as a 'photo-op' to gain support for a snap-election.

Tuesday, 02, Oct 2007 12:00

Election speculation moved up a gear today with reports practical arrangements for a snap poll are underway.

Up to one million voters have moved home since the electoral roll was last commissioned and the Electoral Commission is now looking at ways to avoid disenfranchising them.

There are also reports Labour has begun a major fundraising drive in the past 48 hours and the unions have told reporters they are expecting an announcement any time after the weekend.

Election fever had cooled since it hit frantic levels at last week's Labour conference. However, many suggested Gordon Brown was quietly watching the Conservative conference and would decide on a poll this weekend.

Conservative MP Ed Vaizey today predicted the prime minister will call an election on November 8.

This would give him just enough time to recall parliament and make a long-planned statement on the handover to the Iraqis in Basra.

Speaking at a conference fringe event, Mr Vaizey said Mr Brown had backed himself into a corner over the election, in a foolish move for the supposed great election strategist.

The backbench MP joked the Tories should be thanking Mr Brown for giving them so much warning of a "surprise" election. It had also helped the Tories host their most united conference yet, he added.

More seriously, Mr Vaizey said the prime minister's "dithering" over an election made a mockery of his pledge to restore trust to politics and transfer more power to parliament.

The summer's events showed the need for fixed-term parliaments, he said.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind said it would be a "constitutional outrage" to hold an election now.

Speaking at a separate fringe meeting, he said the government should serve a full term if it has a working majority.

Meanwhile, the row over the Tory tax cut plans has done nothing to suggest the parties are not heading for an election campaign.

The chancellor attacked George Osborne's claim he could fund a massive cut in inheritance tax by levying a flat fee against residents that claim non-domicile status.

Mr Darling said the Conservative party had failed in the first test of credible opposition.

Labour claim Mr Osborne could only raise £650 million through the offshore domicile levy, far short of the Tories' estimate of £3.5 billion.

However, the Conservatives insist this was a "cautious estimate" and the government has underestimated the number of non-doms and their foreign income.

They say the chancellor is only counting non-doms that submit an annual tax return, whereas you do not know how many there are precisely because they are not paying tax.

The Conservatives have also attacked Mr Brown for heading to Iraq to announce the return of 1,000 troops by Christmas. They argue it is a tactical photo-op designed to detract from the favourable coverage of their tax plan.