Blair stamps his seal on manifesto

Labour's election manifesto was set to be agreed tonight at a critical summit of Cabinet ministers, big guns and trade unionists.

Tony Blair was pushing for unanimous approval of an uncompromising "New Labour" reform programme that will put his personal stamp on the party for years to come.

With the Prime Minister set to retire in the next Parliament, the document is seen not only as Labour's pitch for votes on 5 May but as his attempt to shape policies after he quits office.

Drafted by loyalists, including election co-ordinator Alan Milburn and Cabinet Office minister David Miliband, the manifesto is held as a computer file ready to go to printers for publication early next week when Labour aims to step up its campaigning.

Such was the secrecy surrounding the process, there were angry complaints from supporters of Gordon Brown - Mr Blair's most likely successor - that the Chancellor was not being shown a document that would make binding commitments on a Brown leadership.

Tonight's meeting will be attended by the full Cabinet and members of the National Executive, who include trade union representatives, party officials and grassroots members.

Mr Blair and Mr Brown were staging a united front today to make the economy Labour's central focus on the first full day of campaigning.

Mr Blair was planning to use his last Prime Minister's Questions clash with Tory leader Michael Howard to contrast "investment and stability" under Labour with "cuts and risk" under the Tories.

He and the Chancellor were then hammering home the same message at a joint press conference this afternoon.

Mr Blair commented to an aide earlier that he was convinced the Conservatives were deliberately "running away" from the economy as a campaign issue.

"They used to run on the economy-and now they are running away from it," he mused.

Mr Blair will claim it is "almost beyond belief " that the Tories are pledging tax cuts and spending cuts at the same time as spending increases, branding their plans "dangerous and incoherent".

He rallied Labour MPs last night at the Commons in a private speech, claiming the Conservatives would run a "rather nasty Rightwing campaign".

Later he penned a handwritten letter to readers of the Laboursupporting Daily Mirror, in one of the new campaigning techniques being used by both main parties to target voters with "personalised" messages.

Some 800,000 floating voters in a few dozen key seats are regarded as holding the keys to No10. They are being targeted by a hi-tech campaign using personalised mailshots, marketing information and databases listing voters' lifestyles and prejudices.