THE prospect of an early "confidence vote" against Mr John Major's government receded yesterday, with the death of the Labour MP, Mr Martin Redmond. While the opposition parties hope to defeat the government in tonight's vote on the National Health Service, the conditions for a confidence vote are unlikely to arise now before the Wirral by election, even if the Ulster Unionists were to decide to move against Mr Major.
However, there was no let up in the pre election fever as the Shadow Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, signalled the start of a ferocious battle over tax, and the Labour leadership's determination to bury the party's "tax and spend" image once and for all.
"No change at the Treasury, whatever the election result." That was the message yesterday from "New Labour" as Mr Brown dropped a tax bombshell on the Tories and on his own backbenchers - pledging no change in the basic or top rates of tax for the lifetime of the next parliament.
And in a further dramatic move to impress business, the City and disaffected Tory voters, Mr Brown confirmed he would suspend the Treasury's annual spending round and live within the Chancellor, Mr Kenneth Clarke's declared targets for the first two years of a Labour government.
A trade union leader, Mr Bill Morris, had already warned Labour's would be "Iron Chancellor" that he could not think to improve public services "while grinding the workers into the dust". And the Labour left winger, Mr Ken Livingstone, warned Mr Brown that 90 per cent of Labour MPs believed the system he planned to keep intact was unfair.
But Mr Brown's rhetoric was uncompromising as he signalled the end of Labour's internal debate over whether to introduce a top rate of 50p on high earners. "Because we want to encourage work, and after 22 tax rises since 1992 which have hit hard working families, I want to make it clear that I will not increase the basic rate of tax," declared Mr Brown. "As a signal of the importance we attach to rewarding work, I want to make it clear that I will not increase the top rate of tax."
And he repeated that when Labour could it would introduce a 10p starting rate, "but that depends on resources being available".
But while he had hoped to introduce the new lower rate in a first budget, it was clear yesterday that the poorest would have to wait. Unable to promise that the resources were available, Mr Brown refused to commit himself to a timetable. At the same time he sent a chill wind through the public sector, whose workers face the extension of Mr Clarke's four year "freeze" on pay.
Mr Brown said his approach to pay would be "firm and fair". He wanted to recruit, train and motivate staff. But he warned: "With Labour, all public sector pay agreements must be financed from within the agreed departmental cash limits. Just as we will resist every other unreasonable demand on the public purse, we will resist unreasonable demands on public sector pay."
Many Labour MPs and traditional supporters were last night left in no doubt about the firmness of Mr Brown's intentions.
Mr Clarke said Mr Brown was "more slippery than severe" and warned that controlling public expenditure was the only way to keep taxes down. "Hell will freeze over before Gordon Brown could control spending and keep taxes down," he declared.
. The government suffered a 209 votes to 145 defeat in the House of Lords last night over its plan to give the police powers to counter organised crime by bugging suspects without the prior approval of a judge. Peers backed an opposition proposal to force chief constables to get permission, except in emergencies, from special watchdog commissioners before electronic surveillance operations could go ahead.