Howard denies jumping on bandwagon

Michael Howard today defended his campaigns on gipsy camps and immigration against charges of opportunism.

He told an Easter rally he would "not be stopped from saying what I think is right", despite being attacked for bandwagon-jumping.

The Tory leader's fightback came after a week of personal criticism from Labour intended to portray him as lacking vision and hopping from headline to headline. "I'll carry on talking about fair play even though I'm attacked for it because I won't be stopped from saying what I think is right," he said.

"Fair play matters. The same rules should apply whatever your background, whatever your religion, whatever your sex. We are all British. We are one nation."

Mr Howard this week pledged new laws to restrict illegal traveller camps which Labour attacked as a knee-jerk response to media campaigns. Today he said standing up against "those who don't play by the rules" was at the heart of his philosophy.

"What does it do to a society when those who think they don't have to play by the same rules as the rest of us are rewarded by the law, win compensation and never have to take responsibility for their actions?" he asked.

On immigration, where he has promised an annual cap on new arrivals, the Tory leader said: "British citizenship is a precious thing. It should be cherished.

"It shouldn't be open to abuse, whether by people-smugglers who trample over our borders, criminals who work the system for their benefit or freeloaders who demand special privileges."

The Tories received a boost today from an Age Concern survey which said only 29 per cent of women over 55 planned to back Labour, compared with 43 per cent for the Tories.