Sunday, April 10, 2005
Labour says Tories want 'backwards Britain'
Tony Blair has gone on the offensive in UK election campaign, claiming that the Conservatives want to see a 'backwards Britain'.

In a speech at a campaign rally in Deal in Kent, the Prime Minister outlined New Labour's plans for a 'forwards-Britain', with a competitive and stable economy, a flexible labour market and Kent firmly entrenched in the country's south east.

Attacking the Conservative's vision for Britain, Blair said "If the British public vote for Michael Howard on May 5th they will voting for a backwards-Britain. Cornwall would no longer be the 'West Country' and we will have to make the Channel Tunnel almost 5 times longer."

"These are ill-thought out ideas made by a deperate Party making policy on the hoof. Their figures for the costs of this change are all way-off, not to mention how this will affect coastal erosion in Norfolk, if it was exposed to the North Atlantic weather patterns," he said.

But defending the Conservative proposals, Michael Howard said, "Conservative constituencies in Kent are already swarming with bogus asylum seekers. It is about time that Cornwall and Devon took their fair share of them. Then we'll see how many vote Liberal."

"Their schools aren't swamped by non-English speaking immigrant kids and their boarding houses aren't crammed with Albanians restaurant staff."

"Making a backwards-Britain will make it more far more difficult for these types of people to get to London as it would be moved to the West Country. This will be a great deterrent to those seeking to abuse the system."

Caroline Spelman, sitting Conservative MP for Meriden in the Midlands, said "I don't really mind whether we have a forwards or a backwards-Britain. In Meriden, we're right in the middle so it doesn't realy affect us. But I will defintely support my Party Leader in the election."

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