Blair: If you value it, vote for it
Tony Blair has appealed directly to wavering Labour voters and those in marginal constituencies and urged them to vote for Labour.
Speaking at the launch of Labour’s rural manifesto, and of Labour’s new poster slogan ‘If you value it, vote for it’, Mr Blair said voters faced a “fundamental choice” between truly public services and a party which wanted to give taxpayers’ money to the private sector.
“If people value a strong economy they’ve got to come out and vote for it,” he said.
“If they value a National Health Service that is free at the point of use, rather than having money siphoned off out of the NHS to the private sector, they have to vote for it.
“And if they value a school system in which we are putting all the extra resources we can into state schools and not siphoning some of the money off for private schools they have to vote for it.
“If you value it, vote for it; for the National Health Service, for schools, for the strong economy.”
His comments came just before Conservative leader Michael Howard launched a stinging personal attack, accusing Mr Blair of having told lies to win elections.
Issuing a rally call to supporters, Tony Blair said that only Labour had a “serious programme for government”
Mr Blair said that the Conservatives’ manifesto was the “thinnest” he had ever seen, and dismissed the Liberal Democrats’ proposals as incoherent.
Chancellor Gordon Brown, speaking by video link from Edinburgh, said that he wanted to make the case for Labour, and warned that voting for the Liberal Democrats could let the Tories in by the backdoor.
Mr Brown highlighted Labour economic record of growth and low inflation and low interest rates, saying that whilst he was determined stability would continue, the Conservatives’ plans didn’t add up.
He said that Conservatives were planning to “repeat of the mistakes made in the early 1990s when John Major promised to tax less, spend more and borrow less, and led us into a deep recession. This brought 15 per cent mortgage rates.”
Attacking the Lib Dems, he said: “The Liberals are therefore a risk twice over: their own policies would undermine economic stability and if they let in the Tories by the back door, the country could be returned to Tory economic instability.
Beyond economic reasons, Mr Brown said that Labour had not lost their idealism or the sense of what is morally right, calling for the public to recognise the commitment to lifting children out of policy and helping the developing world.
Labour, he said, was launching a campaign for free schooling and free health care for the poorest in developing countries and would sign debt relief agreements for countries prepared to expand schooling and healthcare.
“So my message today is clear: first, the danger of wasting your vote on the Liberal Democrats is real – it is not the easy way out – it is a back door way to a Tory government.
“But beyond this very practical reason, I ask people to stand with us and help us do what is right and good – to build a fairer society, to ensure every child has the best start in life, and to provide debt relief to tackle injustice in the developing world.”
