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Cameron warns over vote for Clegg Rivals target Lib Dem policies
(about 4 hours later)
David Cameron has said a vote for Nick Clegg could leave Britain "stuck" with Labour and only the Conservatives can bring "real change". Labour and the Tories have targeted Lib Dem policies as opinion polls suggest Nick Clegg is still enjoying a rise in support after the TV debate.
He said people were "fed up with the status quo" but without a decisive Tory win "fudge and division" was risked. Tory leader David Cameron said plans for a selective amnesty for illegal immigrants were a "huge mistake".
Mr Clegg said it was "tired" to claim a Lib Dem vote helped another party and voters could "move in a big way". Labour's Gordon Brown said voters would "think twice" about Lib Dem plans for child tax credits and Trident.
Labour attacked the Tories over their economic policies and said the election was about a "choice of futures". But Mr Clegg dismissed suggestions a Lib Dem vote would result in a Labour government as a "tired old claim".
Gordon Brown said: "I believe we are in the futures business, but the Tories are in the risk business."
He also recalled cabinet ministers from the campaign to deal with the air crisis holding a Cobra emergency planning meeting.
In other election news on Monday:In other election news on Monday:
The latest YouGov poll for the Sun, carried out on Saturday and Sunday, suggests the Lib Dems are 1% ahead of the Tories on 33% with Labour in third place on 26% - which if repeated on 6 May would result in a hung Parliament. A YouGov poll for the Sun, carried out on Saturday and Sunday, suggests the Lib Dems are 1% ahead of the Tories on 33% with Labour in third place on 26%.
It suggests the bounce Mr Clegg received after his widely-praised performance in Thursday's inaugural televised prime ministerial debate, is enduring. Another poll, carried out by ICM for the Guardian, suggests Mr Clegg's party has gained 10 points since last week, giving it 30% - three points behind the Tories but two ahead of Labour.
But BBC polling expert David Cowling says the margin of error makes it unclear whether the Lib Dems or Conservatives are in front. There is a Clegg bubble - the important thing is to puncture the bubble before 6th May Lord Tebbit, former Conservative chairman class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8626154.stm">Poll watch: Latest data analysed class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/8628605.stm">Ministers mull flight chaos steps class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8628818.stm">UK election at-a-glance: 19 April
If there is no clear election winner, Mr Clegg has said he would work with the party which has the biggest "mandate" - although he has not made it clear whether that means the highest number of votes or seats, which could be different. Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme that of the previous five opinion polls conducted since the prime ministerial TV debate, on average they put the Conservatives on 32%, the Lib Dems on 31% and Labour on 28%.
A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for the Liberal Democrats... nothing more, nothing less Nick Clegg, Lib Dem leader class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8626154.stm">Poll watch: Latest data analysed class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/8628605.stm">Ministers mull flight chaos steps class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8628818.stm">UK election at-a-glance: 19 April But because the Lib Dem vote was more "geographically evenly spread", it would not translate into a third of seats for the party due to the first-past-the-post voting system - but pointed to a hung parliament.
In a speech in London Conservative leader Mr Cameron acknowledged that after the TV debate the election "has suddenly started to get a bit lively", people wanted "something different" and were "grabbing on to anything new to get change". Conservative leader Mr Cameron said on Monday that would lead to "uncertainty, fudge and division" and could mean people end up being "stuck with Gordon Brown in Downing Street".
He said only an outright Conservative victory would bring "real change" while a hung parliament would lead to "uncertainty, fudge and division". He acknowledged that after the TV debate the election "started to get a bit lively", and people wanted "something different" but said only an outright Conservative victory would bring "real change".
He warned that, if the Conservatives do not win a decisive victory: "You could easily wake up on May 7 and find literally you are stuck with what you have got, you are stuck with Gordon Brown in Downing Street, you're stuck with a deficit, you are stuck with an economy that isn't moving and nothing has changed." Mr Cameron said a Lib Dem policy giving illegal immigrants the right to earn British citizenship was a "huge mistake" and evidence from other countries suggested it would encourage more illegal immigration.
He said both Labour and the Lib Dems were wedded to "top down" government and the Conservatives' "big society" idea was the only "genuinely different" approach on the table. 'Short honeymoon'
Election 'fluidity' But he said he would not turn to negative campaigning and would instead "redouble the positive".
At a press conference in Cardiff on Monday morning, Mr Clegg said there was a "fluidity in this election which we haven't seen for perhaps a generation" and at only two other elections in the last 30 years had there been "the sense that people might move in a big way" - in 1983 and 1997. However former party chairman Lord Tebbit told BBC Radio 4's The World At One: "There is a Clegg bubble - the important thing is to puncture the bubble before 6th May - the 7th would be too late."
"I can't predict what's going to happen. I'm acutely aware as everybody else is that polls go up, go down, there's volatility - all the rest of it. All I know it is that for the old anchors, the old patterns and the old established routines of elections, they are breaking down." Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox told the programme they need to "ask questions" of Lib Dem policies on issues like immigration, crime and the Euro.
The spirit of Dunkirk has gripped the nation. The country has found a politician it likes even more than Winston Churchill, according to one poll Read Nick Robinson's blogThe spirit of Dunkirk has gripped the nation. The country has found a politician it likes even more than Winston Churchill, according to one poll Read Nick Robinson's blog
He said both Labour and the Conservatives were obviously going to "lash out" and claim a vote for the Lib Dems was a vote for another party but he said that was a "tired old claim". "The Liberals are very good at trying to be all things to all people and when you start to scratch below the surface, there are a lot of gaps," he said.
"A vote for the Liberal Democrats is exactly what it says on the tin - it is a vote for the Liberal Democrats," he said. At a Labour press conference Gordon Brown suggested the Lib Dems' new popularity was a "political honeymoon".
Asked about Mr Clegg on Monday Mr Brown said he knew a bit about "what it is to have a short honeymoon" and said "I wish him well in it".
But he said while there was "common ground" between Labour and the Lib Dems on issues like political reform - there were differences on economic policy. He said when people looked more closely at their policies they would "think twice".But he said while there was "common ground" between Labour and the Lib Dems on issues like political reform - there were differences on economic policy. He said when people looked more closely at their policies they would "think twice".
Labour was "asking for a majority" he said because they believed their manifesto was "the right one for Britain" and said the focus would switch from "style and presentation" to "substance". 'Tired old claim'
But he focused his attack on the Conservatives - saying they would put the "fragile" economic recovery at risk. He said: "We believe we have a manifesto for a Parliament, we believe we are the people to take this country through the recession and into recovery... We are fighting for victory and for a majority at this election."
And he said Mr Cameron's plan for a "big society means big cuts in public services. Mr Brown said the TV debate had "energised" the election campaign but predicted that the focus would switch from "style and presentation" to "substance".
"It's a risk for our mainstream public services that Britain cannot afford to take." Mr Clegg said both Labour and the Conservatives were obviously going to "lash out" and both had used the "tired old claim" that a vote for the Lib Dems would benefit the other party.
"A vote for the Liberal Democrats is exactly what it says on the tin - it is a vote for the Liberal Democrats," he said.
He said there was a "fluidity in this election which we haven't seen for perhaps a generation" and at only two other elections in the last 30 years had there been "the sense that people might move in a big way" - in 1983 and 1997.
"I can't predict what's going to happen. I'm acutely aware as everybody else is that polls go up, go down, there's volatility - all the rest of it. All I know it is that for the old anchors, the old patterns and the old established routines of elections, they are breaking down."