Brown and Blair's show of unity

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown staged a new show of unity today with a joint interview on breakfast television.

The pair stepped up Labour's campaign to woo "school-gate mums", publicising plans for childcare and children's health.

With Iraq receding as an election issue outside all but a few areas, Mr Blair is focusing his effort on low-income parents - the target group dubbed "hard-working families".

A "tough" crackdown on work-shy unemployed people was also announced by Work and Pensions Secretary Alan Johnson as part of the drive to persuade those in low-paid jobs that the Government is on their side.

Welfare payments will be stopped automatically for two weeks if claimants break conditions for seeking work or holding a job down. Those who continually flout the rules could have payments stopped for six months.

"If we are going to reduce unemployment even further we will need to be tough on the minority who refuse to take steps back to work," Mr Johnson will say in a speech. His comments tie in with the campaign to win votes from mothers because Labour campaign managers have found low-income families are the most infuriated by "freeloaders" who claim benefits they are not entitled to.

The Chancellor will balance the hard line with a positive speech in Hertfordshire, setting out policies to help working couples. Education Secretary Ruth Kelly is advertising a second issue of Labour's election magazine aimed at women.