Howard places ad in The Guardian

Tory leader Michael Howard has stepped into the unlikely arena of The Guardian's Society section, a politically correct haven of public-sector job advertisements, in a new bid to wrongfoot Labour.

Mr Howard has placed a fullpage advert asking public-sector workers to join his campaign against government waste by submitting examples of "crazy" overmanning and bureaucracy to the Tories' new "waste czar", business troubleshooter David James.

In the signed advert, headed "Can you help me solve this problem?", Mr Howard writes: "I understand the frustration you feel when you can't provide the best possible service to the public because of all the pen-pushing, form-filling and paper-shuffling that surrounds you.

"The answer is you. You are the frontline ... You know what's crazy and what works."

A Tory spokesman said the party was keen to win over public-sector workers, traditionally Labour voters, and that The Guardian was the "natural place to advertise".