Top Tories slam Howard's negative election campaign

With just days to go the election, and with a Tory win looking more unlikely than ever, Michael Howard's campaign has come under fire from senior Tories. Figures including Michael Portillo and Steve Norris have all expressed concerns about the Tory campaign.

Locally the Conservatives tried to falsely blame THEIR OWN Council Tax rises on asylum seekers. Cllr Neil Matthews said, "The county council has been Tory run for 8 years and Council Tax has nearly doubled in that time. It is a blatant lie to try to blame this on asylum costs."

Howard forced to apologise

Meanwhile Michael Howard was forced to apologise for getting his figures wrong in a letter about MRSA. The Tories claimed that many times more people died from the bug than the true figure.

Mr Howard has also come under fire from a senior police officer for "stirring up fear of rising crime."

Peter Carroll said, "These underhand tactics smack of desperation. Sadly I expect to see more of this as the Tories slip towards defeat."