Prepare to campaign, Blair tells Labour
Tony Blair has sent a rallying cry to Labour activists around the country to prepare for campaigning.
Every member of the party will receive a copy of a pamphlet setting out the arguments which activists should use when doorstepping voters.
In the leaflet, entitled The Choices for Britain, Mr Blair identified Labour's biggest opponent in the forthcoming election as the air of cynicism and apathy about politics. The election is expected to produce one of the lowest turnouts since the war.
Mr Blair said Conservative leader William Hague was keen to foster cynicism because his party could win seats without attracting any extra votes by persuading Labour supporters to stay at home.
If just one in five of those who backed Labour in 1997 failed to vote, the party would lose 60 seats even without anyone switching to the Tories.
Mr Blair wrote: "In the coming campaign, the Tories will use the only card they have - cynicism. They want you to believe that change is not possible, that all government is equally bad, that there is no hope.
"They want you to stay at home so they win by default. Every Labour member and every Labour supporter has a role to play in defeating this cynicism."
In an article for Inside Labour magazine, which accompanies the pamphlet, Mr Blair made quite clear that he was not planning to see out his five-year term and go to the polls in 2002, telling supporters: "I know we ask a lot of you. And we'll be asking more this year."
Choices for Britain sets out five key areas on which activists should concentrate: economic stability, Labour's goal of full employment, investment in public services, Labour's strategy to cut crime and positive engagement in Europe and the world.
