Hague and Blair launch tax battle

A blurred start to the Tory poster campaign at the Dome

Tony Blair and William Hague have launched a pre-election battle over which party is best to run the country's finances.

The Conservatives have launched a £1.5m poster campaign accusing Labour of increasing taxes while failing to deliver improved public services.

New Tory slogans

You've paid the tax, so where's your operation?

You've paid the tax, so where are the teachers?

You've paid the tax, so where are the trains?

You've paid the tax, so where are the police?

The prime minister will counter later on Tuesday that hard choices made by his government, and not chance, have led to a successful economy.

The tax battle follows Mr Blair's signal at the weekend that Labour intends to put the economy at the heart of the campaign for the general election expected this spring.

Tory leader William Hague also aims to fight hard on tax and is unveiling his party's message with a high-profile launch of a new poster campaign.

It features a series of slogans attacking what the Tories describe as the government's "tax and waste" spending policies.

The posters will highlight issues on which the Conservatives are convinced Labour is vulnerable, such as police numbers, the health service and teachers.

Poster launch

A typical slogan is: "You've paid the tax, so where are the police?"

The Tories have in recent months succeeded in forcing the government on the defensive over police numbers, which have fallen since New Labour took office in 1997.

Mr Hague will be joined at Tuesday's poster launch by shadow chancellor Michael Portillo at the party's Smith Square headquarters in London.

They hope to turn Labour's own 1997 election slogan against the government by insisting that under Mr Blair "things aren't getting any better".

Poster attacks before the last election drew criticism

The pair will say "stealth" rises have raised the tax burden by the equivalent of nearly 10p on the basic rate of income tax despite Labour pledges not to increase taxes.

Speaking to the BBC, Conservative chairman Michael Ancram accused Labour of reneging its promises on taxation.

"The point of the campaign is to remind people what has happened since the last election," he said.

"What has happened is that Labour has broken nearly all the promises they made at that election.

"They promised they wouldn't put taxes up, everybody knows that taxes have gone up, the average working family is now paying £670 more than they were at the last election."

'Promises kept'

At the same time, he went on, people were realising that the benefits they would expect to see from higher taxes were not being delivered.

But Health Secretary Alan Milburn insisted that the government had kept all its promises on taxation.

"We said that we wouldn't raise the basic or top rate, in fact we have cut the basic rate, we have introduced a new 10p starting rate and we have cut VAT on fuel," he said.

"The typical family with children, for example, will on average be £850 a year better off as a consequence of the choices we have made on tax policy."

Campaign slogan

Later the prime minister will use a speech in Bristol to insist that increased investment in public services is only possible because of tough choices his government took early in this parliament.

Mr Blair will also unveil his own party's latest slogan: "choices not chance".

The prime minister's speech follows Chancellor Gordon Brown's signal last week that he intends to target any tax cuts in his March budget at families and pensioners.

Earlier, the Conservatives' poster launch got off to a shaky start when a plan to project one of the images onto the Millennium Dome was thwarted by security guards.

Vans carrying generators and a projector were asked to move from outside the site in Greenwich, south east London, leaving the image blurred and shadowy.