A British government minister appeared to give away the date of this year's general election at the launch of a proposed new law today.
The country must go to the polls by June 3rd but prime minister Gordon Brown has so far refused to publicly commit to a date.
There has been media speculation about a March 25th poll, but the most widely expected date is May 6th as it falls on the same day as local elections.
Speaking at the launch of proposed law to ban the use of sun beds by under-18s, health minister Andy Burnham said:
"I hope you will add your weight in whatever way you can to this campaign and, if we focus on it, we can have changed a little piece of the law by May this year." He quickly corrected himself to say "later this year".
The slip-up follows a similar comment by Europe minister Chris Bryant at an event on Monday.
During a discussion on Britain's relations with Latin America, Mr Bryant said: "I hope that by the time of the general election on May 6th, relations will have improved." His office later said he did not know the exact date of the election.
Labour, in power since 1997, is trailing the Conservatives by a wide margin in opinion polls.
Reuters