THE BRITISH Prime Minister, Mr John Major, robustly defended Tory MPs facing sleaze allegations yesterday and denounced the Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair, as a "chicken" for pulling out of a televised head-to-head debate.
Clearly determined to ensure the sleaze row does not overshadow today's publication of the Conservative election manifesto, Mr Major launched a sustained counteroffensive yesterday by tackling the issue head on and insisting he was not going to "bow to the witch-hunt mentality".
Although Mr Major failed to explain why the Tory hierarchy had spent the last four days pressing for the resignation of Mr Neil Hamilton, the Tory MP at the centre of the cash-for-questions controversy, and Mr Piers Merchant, whose alleged affair with a 17-year-old Soho nightclub hostess was exposed in the tabloid press, he stressed they had both denied the allegations levelled against them.
"I think everyone who retains the support of their constituency party and protests their innocence, as the members concerned do, has the right to stand in this election and fight the election on the policies and philosophy that they support. That applies explicitly to Neil Hamilton and it applies as a general principle," he said.
However, Mr Major sidestepped questions pointing out that Mr Hamilton had admitted his failure to declare receiving thousands of pounds from a lobbyist. "I don't know what you may know that I don't know, but I don't know all the circumstances," he insisted, bewildering many.
In an attempt to move the campaign forward, Mr Major accused Mr Blair of being frightened of facing him in a televised debate. "Turkeys may not vote for Christmas, but chickens apparently run away from broadcasts," he said.
Although Mr Blair had insisted that he too wants to move the campaign away from sleaze, he repeated his attack on Mr Major's weak handling of the issue and blamed him for allowing it to dominate the headlines.
"I would simply put to you this question: can you imagine a situation where Margaret Thatcher would have said `There are certain candidates I don't want to stand but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it'?" he asked.
Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats' campaign spokesman Lord Holme, announced that his party was now prepared to join Labour in the search for a "credible, independent anti-corruption" candidate to stand against Mr Hamilton.
Meanwhile, Labour's opinion poll lead over the Tories has narrowed. An ICM poll for the Guardian shows Labour 14 points ahead of the Conservatives - a fall of four points since last month. The adjusted figures put Labour two points down on 46% while the Tories are up two on 32%. The Liberal Democrats are up one on 17%.