LABOUR plans to stop the Tories (Conservatives) winning the general election — expected in May — by tapping into a 'submerged optimism' about the future and by applying Barack Obama's reliance on word-of-mouth campaigning, backed by the Internet, says Douglas Alexander, Labour election co-ordinator.

He also reveals that Labour's campaign slogan will be 'A future fair for all'— a phrase designed to compete with what Alexander describes as the “valueless promise of change” from the opposition Conservative party leader David Cameron.

The slogan will be unveiled at a rally in Warwick, but Alexander gave no hint of Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling an election before May 6, emphasising the need for a slow reappraisal of Labour to take root.

He said “We must not allow the Tories to frame the election as a choice between status quo and change. What we want is a choice between two competing visions of the future.”

Boosted by two letters in Frida's Financial Times signed by more than 60 economists endorsing the government's decision to delay spending cuts until next year, Brown said “Conservative dislike of government, bordering on hatred of government action, would risk recovery now.”

But ministers were shocked when James Purnell, the former work and pensions secretary, announced that he was leaving parliament. Purnell quit Brown's cabinet last year, telling him his leadership made a Conservative victory more likely. Purnell's departure from Westminster is also a blow to David Miliband, the foreign secretary and a close ally, who would have liked his support in the event of a leadership battle after the election.

The meeting comes against a backdrop of a slight narrowing of the polls, but also a Labour fear that extra spending by the Tories in marginal seats might mean Cameron winning a majority with just a six-point national lead, three or four points fewer than many pollsters predict.

Labour is in part making a virtue of necessity as it cannot match the millions raised by Cameron and Lord Ashcroft, his deputy chairman. Alexander also believes that a cash-strapped populist campaign, bereft of helicopters and glitz, matches the austere times.

— The Guardian, London