The British Conservative opposition leader Michael Howard on Tuesday paved the way for a bitter end to the general election when his party launched a UK-wide poster campaign explicitly condemning Prime Minister Tony Blair as a liar.
In an echo of the Conservatives' notorious "demon eyes" of 1997, the leadership unveiled a poster of a shifty-looking Blair standing next to a stark message.
"If he's prepared to lie to take us to war, he's prepared to lie to win an election," it says in black lettering on a dark red background.
In a play on Labour's latest message imploring people to vote for what they value, it adds: "If you value the truth, vote for it."
Howard was last night unapologetic about the poster, which includes language that would be ruled out of order in the House of Commons.
"I'm a very direct person. I say it as it is," he said during a visit to Birmingham. "Character is an issue at this election. It is about trust."
At his morning press conference, Howard defended his decision to describe the prime minister as a liar for three reasons:
The so called "dodgy dossier" of February 2003, which the prime minister claimed was based on intelligence but was in fact "pulled off" the Internet;
The prime minister's claim in September 2002 that intelligence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction was "extensive, detailed and authoritative" when Lord Butler depicted it in his report last year as "limited, sporadic and patchy";
The prime minister and Lord Goldsmith, the UK's attorney general, had "directly contradicted each other" about advice on the legality of the Iraq war.
The poster is a gamble for Howard -- on the day after he admitted he was "two goals down" -- because he was such an enthusiastic supporter of military action.
But he believes that voters across the spectrum, including opponents and supporters of the war, will share his belief that Iraq highlighted wider questions about the prime minister's trustworthiness.
One aide said: "Trust really is the fundamental issue. War is the lightning conductor but he lied on top-up fees. So Michael is saying you can't trust Labour on tax -- because of the 66 stealth taxes -- and you can't trust him on health because he said in 1997 there was 24 hours to save the NHS [British health service]. Can you trust anyone who says that and then fails to deliver?"
Labour will have mixed feelings about the poster because the prime minister needs no reminding that anger about Iraq has made him one of the party's main liabilities. But Labour strategists believe the Tories' decision to attack him in such personal terms shows Howard "has nothing to say" about the voters' main concerns on schools and hospitals.
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