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Tories launch hospital campaign Cameron launches Tory fightback
(about 6 hours later)
David Cameron is launching a campaign to fight government plans to downgrade district general hospitals in the NHS. David Cameron is seeking to regain the political initiative amid reports Prime Minister Gordon Brown has ordered aides to prepare for an early election.
The Tory leader is focusing on NHS reform with a campaign to stop district hospitals being downgraded.
He is also making crime a key battleground - renewing his pledge to mend Britain's "broken society".
Labour accused Mr Cameron of making "misleading" promises on public spending and tax cuts.
Public health minister Dawn Primarolo said: "It's misleading or dishonest to, on Friday, for the Tory party to support £21bn worth of cuts from public services in supporting the Redwood commission proposals.
"And then come back and say suddenly not only are they not going to do that, they are going to invest in public services and we know that's not true."
'Bare-knuckle fight'
The Conservatives last week pledged to consider tax cuts following a report by a policy group chaired by former Cabinet minister John Redwood.
We are not going to deal with anarchy in the UK unless you actually strengthen families and communities in the UK David CameronConservative leader
The report prompted Labour accusations the Conservatives were "lurching to the right" - something denied by Mr Cameron, who has pledged to fight on the centre ground.
Mr Cameron, who has returned from his summer holiday in France, promised to give the prime minister a "bare-knuckle fight" over hospital closures.
"We believe that the district general hospital is an absolutely key part of the National Health Service," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"People have put money into the NHS - they've paid increased taxes.
"They want to see their district general hospital improved and people simply do not understand why maternity units and accident and emergency units are being shut down - when actually accident and emergency admissions are actually up and births are up."
The Conservative leader has identified 29 hospitals which he claims are under threat from service cuts.The Conservative leader has identified 29 hospitals which he claims are under threat from service cuts.
The government is currently reviewing services at 13 NHS trusts, but denies plans for a mass closure of hospitals. 'Tough penalties'
BBC correspondent Jo Coburn says Mr Cameron is re-entering the political fray to try to recapture the agenda in case there is a snap autumn election. The government has said there are 13 NHS trusts where services are the subject of a review or consultation - which may include more than one hospital each.
Mr Cameron has previously pledged a "bare knuckle fight" over the future of district hospitals and said he would place the NHS at the centre of his agenda. "The NHS is looking at the safest and most effective way of delivering care," said a department of health spokesman.
Clinical need "This does not mean wholesale closures of district general hospitals but it does mean that NHS clinicians and managers need to work with local communities to decide on the best organisation of services for patients in their areas."
Mr Cameron will say that although Prime Minister Gordon Brown has declared the NHS his "top priority", he has delivered little of substance. Mr Cameron is also concentrating on the fight against crime, amid reports of an increase in knife crime.
He is also expected to attack the government on its plans to reorganise the health service area by area. He told Today that if people broke the law they should expect "tough penalties" but that punishment was "not enough".
The Tories claim this is being done on the basis of financial concerns and not clinical need. "We are not going to deal with anarchy in the UK unless you actually strengthen families and communities in the UK."
Mr Cameron has already called on the prime minister to clarify if any hospitals have been earmarked to lose their accident and emergency departments or maternity units. He suggested one way to do this was to have a tax and benefit system that encouraged families "to come together and stay together rather than driving people apart".
The Department of Health has said there are 13 NHS trusts where services are the subject of a review or consultation - which may include more than one hospital each. Mr Cameron hit back at claims he had "underestimated" Gordon Brown, in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"He's been chancellor for 10 years, he managed to dislodge the prime minister who had won three elections. I've never underestimated Gordon Brown."
'Brown bounce''Brown bounce'
Mr Cameron has faced criticism from several prominent Tories recently, particularly for his decision last month to travel to Rwanda for the launch of a report on globalisation during the floods which hit his Witney constituency. But he said in the run-up to the next general election, people would see all of the problems facing Britain - from NHS closures to social breakdown - can be traced back to Mr Brown "sitting at his desk in Number 11 Downing St as chancellor".
Labour has also been enjoying a lead in several recent opinion polls. According to the Observer, Mr Brown has ordered his election team to produce a blueprint of options which would allow him to call a vote in October.
But the Conservative Party did gain wide coverage of proposals from former Cabinet minister John Redwood to cut business taxes in order to boost economic growth. He is expected to hold a meeting of key figures - including Cabinet ministers Douglas Alexander and Ed Miliband - at the beginning of September to make a final decision.
They included easing regulation such as data protection laws, rules on hours, and health and safety regimes. The party is continuing to enjoy a "Brown bounce" in the opinion polls but senior Labour figures and MPs still believe that the timing of a vote is most likely to be next spring or summer.
However, Labour claimed the proposals showed the party was lurching back to the right in the face of disappointing polls.