Blair announces general election

The next general election will take place on May 5, Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced.

Mr Blair went to Buckingham Palace this morning to request the Queen to dissolve parliament.

Speaking after his meeting with the Queen, Mr Blair said that the election was about "a big choice, a fundamental choice" and said there was "a lot at stake".

The Prime Minister said that Labour had a "driving mission" for a third term, saying that the party wanted to widen the opportunities available to British people and "entrench" economic stability and investment in public services to "make it last for the future and never return to the economic risks and the failing public services of the past".

Mr Blair said that Labour was "proud" of what had been achieved during their eight years in power and highlighted a number of areas that the party pledged to keep improving, including health, education, crime and immigration.

Mr Blair said the election presented a big decision and said: "The British people are the boss and they're the ones that will make it."

Conservative leader Michael Howard said that the Labour government had "lost the plot". Speaking before Mr Blair's visit to Buckingham Palace, Mr Howard launched the Conservative's election campaign with promises to deliver improved school discipline, cleaner hospitals, more police on the streets and controlled immigrations. He said: "The choice before the voters on May 5 is very clear: they can either reward Mr Blair for eight years of broken promises and vote for another five years of talk or they can vote Conservative, to support a party that's taken a stand and is committed to action on the issues that matter to hard-working Britons."

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy pledged to focus on people's hopes, not play on their fears in the party's election campaign. The Liberal Democrats have pledged to scrap university tuition fees and council tax, increase pensions, provide quicker diagnosis for serious health problems and focus on environmental problems. Mr Kennedy said: "People feel badly let down by Labour. They're never going to regain the trust of the British people, Frankly, they don't deserve to."

"The Conservatives just can't offer credibly the fresh alternative that the country is looking for. They are a party of the past, not the future. It’s time for something different. Liberal Democrats are the real alternative."

It has also been announced that a Labour candidate has defected to the Liberal Democrats. Councillor Stephen Wilkinson, a member of Lancashire County council, had been Labour's candidate for Ribble Valley. Mr Wilkinson said: "I feel angry that Labour have become increasingly authoritarian and failed to safeguard civil liberties."

Mr Wilkinson also accused the Labour government of using the "threat of terror" to try to pass legislation on house arrest and identity cards, as well as to justify the war in Iraq. He said: "Who could have thought that a Labour government would become a lapdog to George Bush's right wing Republican administration?"

Parliament will be dissolved on Monday, April 11.

The government may try and rush through any remaining legislation during this week. However, it has been reported that some bills are likely to fail. Home Secretary Charles Clarke has reportedly admitted that plans for identity cards and an offence of incitement to religious hatred may have to be scrapped.

(KmcA)