Election 2010: Labour launch campaign as Tories' poll lead narrows

PRIME MINISTER Gordon Brown unveiled Labour's election slogan, "A future fair for all", as the latest polls showed a narrowing of the Conservatives' lead.

Mr Brown was in Coventry for the launch and he asked voters to "take a second look at Labour". But it would seem that the PM, as ever, has missed the point.

This would not be a "second look" - or indeed a third. Another Labour general election victory would give this government a fourth term which it scarcely deserves.

The wording of their slogan - and Mr Brown's emphasis on fairness - does more to highlight the failings than accentuate the positives of this sham administration.

Interestingly, "A future fair for all" was previously used as a phrase by Labour at their party conference back in 2003.

How can they continue to spout the same mantra years later when evidence continues to be to the contrary?

The National Equality Panel recently reported that the richest 10% of Britons are now 100 times better off than the poorest 10% of society.

It is a damning statistic for a Labour government which will have been in power for 13 continuous years at the next election.

But the Conservatives have hardly been making a convincing argument for proving they would be any more competent as the party in power.

In an embarrassing gaffe, the Tories mistakenly inflated the number of teenage pregnancies in poor areas by 10 times the actual amount.

The claim that 54% of girls in deprived parts of the country get pregnant before turning 18 was such a basic mathematical error, it was like something out of a political satire.

It seems barely believable that such a fundamental faux pas could come from a party which is still odds-on to be running the country from May.

Of course, the Tories backtracked and argued that the real statistic - 5.4% - was still another indictment of the Labour government.

But, while that may be true, it was a hollow response after an original claim which smacked of bashing an easy target.

This being an election year, there have already been plenty of political footballs being kicked about, often without much regard for the issue at hand.

The most recent case of this was the row over care for the elderly.

It became such a point-scoring exercise that it later prompted government-appointed champion for the elderly Dame Joan Bakewell to step in and call the exchange "shameful".

Last month, the institution of marriage came under the political spotlight. More specifically, the debate centred on the Tories' pledge of a tax break for married couples.

It was another awkward moment for Conservative leader David Cameron who had to admit publicly that he had "messed up" in describing the policy to a reporter as only something he would be "hoping" to bring in.

Such uncertain stumbles by Mr Cameron have done little to draw the public towards the Tories.

But it is just as likely that the narrowing poll lead is simply a result of Labour's core support hardening.

Also, while the current base figures suggest that there would be a hung parliament, the Tories are performing significantly better in the vital marginal seats.

With 74 days to go until the expected election date of 6th May, there is still quite a lot of time to go.

And the struggle to engage the public for so long is perhaps the biggest worry for both the main parties at present.