Hague has given up right to govern Britain - Blair

The British Prime Minister tonight insisted that Mr William Hague had given up any right to govern Britain by abandoning the …

The British Prime Minister tonight insisted that Mr William Hague had given up any right to govern Britain by abandoning the political centre ground.

In an address to a Labour Rally at the Assembly Rooms, Derby, Mr Blair argued that the Conservatives were inviting defeat in the British General Election on Thursday.

Mr Blair said: "They deserve to be defeated on those policies because they have disqualified themselves as a serious party of government.

"They have abandoned the centre ground. They are camped on the Right - pointing in the direction of the past.

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"And now, of course, it is too late for them to return to the main stream. They have offended too many 'one nation' Conservatives, bemused too many business people, shocked too many tolerant citizens, angered too many families who remember high mortgages and, most damagingly, of all alienated millions of people who know we need the investment in public services."

Mr Blair acknowledged that the public wanted faster progress on improving the public services. He said that people had told him that they wanted improvements "quicker and better and faster".

Mr Blair said that was right, but argued that Labour had laid the foundations for those improvements in its first term despite the fiscal necessity of sticking to tight spending limits in its early years.

Mr Blair told his audience that Thursday represented an historic opportunity.

"June 7th, is a day of decision, let's make the right decision for our country and its future," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Hague billed Thursday's election as "the last chance to save rural Britain and save the rural economy".

For the second day running, he attacked the government's handling of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Despite the ‘Keep the Pound’ banners enthusiastically waved by supporters, Mr Hague relegated the battle against the euro - formerly the centrepiece of his campaign - to a secondary place as he concentrated on countryside issues, the fishing industry and Labour "sleaze".

PA