Downing Street attacks press

Mr Blair's speech to the WI dented his image

Downing Street has attacked the media for its "obsession with spin" following the publication of stories about a leaked memo believed to be from a key government aide.

The memo reportedly warned Mr Blair in advance that his disastrous speech to the Women's Institute last Wednesday was doomed to fail and would be seen as "sad" and "condescending".

Downing Street has refused to confirm or deny the existence of the memo.

The government's obsessions are economic stability, jobs, better hospitals and schools and sorting out transport

Downing Street spokesman

A spokesman said in a statement: "It is the media that is obsessed with spin. The government's obsessions are economic stability, jobs, better hospitals and schools and sorting out transport."

It is believed that polling guru Philip Gould was asked by the prime minister's press secretary, Alastair Campbell, to comment on a draft of the speech, which Mr Blair wrote himself.

He is reported to have penned the memo, which said the speech need major re-writing as it made the prime minister "look rather sad" and out of touch with ordinary people.

In the event the speech was a public relations nightmare, with members of the audience slow-handclapping.

Bad week

In its statement Downing Street defended the speech.

It said: "The prime minister's speech last week makes it clear that these are the issues of concern to the government and they are the issues of concern to the British people. The speech speaks for itself."

The frosty reception was seen as typical of the government's alleged failure to deliver and plunged Mr Blair into one of his worst weeks in power.

An opinion poll published on Sunday suggested the Tories had narrowed the gap with Labour to three points - the Opposition's best showing since 1993.

According to the poll the government has dropped five points in six months to 41%, while the Tories have jumped six points to 38%, with the Liberal Democrats trailing on 16%.

Blip

The poll of 1,008 respondents for the Mail on Sunday newspaper was conducted in the two days after Mr Blair's WI speech.

According to its findings, there has also been a drop in Mr Blair's personal ratings, with the number of voters regarding him as the most capable premier falling from 53% just over 12 months ago to 37%.

Mr Hague's approval rating has doubled in the same period to 18%, it suggests.

Lord Strathclyde, the Conservative leader in the House of Lords, attacked the government for "irrelevant" political correctness on policies such as hunting and gay sex.

"It looks as though it's a government that has run out of good ideas and are increasingly irrelevant to the needs of the general public," he said.

Alastair Campbell was told Tory had regained ground

Bob Worcester, head of Mori, which conducted the poll, attributed Labour's fall in support to the prime minister's "lacklustre" performance at the WI gathering.

The veteran opinion poll organiser regards the government's fall as a "blip" and likened it to the rise it enjoyed last month after the birth of Mr Blair's fourth child, Leo.

Conservative Party chairman Michael Ancram welcomed the new poll's findings but said he always treated such canvassing of opinion with caution.

A Labour Party spokesman said "the poll that matters is the next general election".