THE Tories had Labour on the defensive last night about its plans to restore the right to trade union recognition, raising the spectre of renewed militancy and shop-floor confrontation.
But Europe again threatened to cast its shadow over the Conservative campaign.
As the Foreign Secretary, Mr Malcolm Rifkind, launched a blistering attack on plans for common European immigration, foreign and defence policies, Labour turned the spotlight on Tory divisions - and a leading Euro-sceptic MP forecast certain election defeat for Mr John Major.
Sir George Gardiner MP predicted Tory seats will fall like nine-pins at the general election and Mr Tony Blair will form the next government.
Sir George - who defected from the Tories after being deselected by his Reigate constituency - delivered his broadside at a meeting of Referendum Party candidates last night.
He accused Mr Blair and Mr Major of sitting on the fence on the issue of the Single European Currency, which he maintained would be an "irrevocable" step toward a European super-state.
His warning coincided with Labour attempts to exploit renewed Tory tensions over Europe. The Shadow Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, published a list of more than 130 Conservative MPs and prospective candidates in seats thought winnable by the Tories detailing their opposition to declared government policy over Europe. And he suggested that Mr Major, if re-elected, "would become a prisoner of backbench MPs who have made different promises to him and to the electorate".
As if on cue, the London MP, Mr Vivien Bendall, became the first Tory to use his personal election manifesto to rule out British membership of the single currency. And, as it emerged that Mr John Redwood, the former leadership challenger, would after all give media interviews today marking the launch of his book against the currency, Labour mocked his presence in Wolverhampton Yesterday, supporting the arch Euro-sceptic, Mr Nicholas Budgen, while Mr Major was campaigning nearby in Birmingham.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, said: "There can never have been a general election in living memory where both the leader of a party and his greatest rival surface in the same region on the same day offering different platforms."
Mr Cook went on: "They are not fighting an election for the votes of the people but a leadership contest for the soul of the Tory party."
The Tories, meanwhile, raised the spectre of union militancy and renewed shop-floor strife as they turned their fire on Labour plans to restore the right to union recognition if demanded by a majority of a workforce. Mr Michael Heseltine, the Deputy Prime Minister, claimed Labour's plans would pave the way for a new era of strife with "licensed industrial blackmail" by trades unions.
The Tories switched from a planned announcement extending education tests as their theme of the day, on heel of a newspaper report claiming a "hit-list" of 63 companies which would immediately be forced to grant union recognition if Labour won.
The Shadow Chancellor tried to defuse the row by declaring plans for an independent third party to rule where there was a dispute between workers and management over union recognition. But the Tories were bolstered by the Midlands branch of the Institute of Directors, which said it viewed Labour's plan with grave concern".
Mr Simon Boardman-Weston said: "It will foster a new climate of antagonism which can only undermine competitiveness. Legislation of this sort would run entirely counter to the enterprise culture which is underpinning our strong economic performance."
In Scotland, meanwhile, the search was on for a Conservative candidate to replace Mr Allan Stewart, the minister who announced his resignation under pressure of allegations about his personal life.