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| On the stump with Gordon and Elvis |
A DESPERATE Gordon Brown was left with egg on his face after the only celebrity to back his NHS campaign was a dodgy Elvis impersonator.
Yesterday the PM launched a crucial new strategy to bash the Tory NHS record at a rally in Corby as his party tumbles down the polls.
Labour had been furiously spinning that a megastar would back Gordon Brown, after the Tories pulled in a string of famous figures including actor Michael Caine and popstar Gary Barlow.
Spindoctor Alastair Campbell claimed on Friday night that the launch would be “mega”, with “John Lennon’s hero” coming out for Labour.
But embarrassingly, party bosses could only rustle up Casualty actress Rebecca Wheatley and cricketer Devon Malcolm and a second-rate Elvis impersonator for the rally at Lodge Park Technology College.
Gordon Brown said yesterday: “I’m here to introduce a celebrity that has been widely advertised on the Twitter network.
“Only four per cent of people in the UK believe Elvis Presley is still alive, and I believe there will be only four per cent of people in this country by the end of the election who believe the Conservative party are not a risk to the economy.”
We can't go on like this..
With suspicious minds
Local Labour candidate Phil Hope told the NHS workers and party supporters: “We have one final special guest – one of the biggest celebrities ever to put their name to the Labour party.
“Believe it or not, backing Labour is the most famous celebrity in history – Elvis Presley.”Dressed in white, the singer bounded into the room as the gathered party faithful looked bemused.
After pledging his support he crooned the Wonder of You to the PM, who seemed to be doing his best to ignore him as Sarah Brown sang along.
Gordon Brown was launching his new Vote NHS campaign in a last-ditch bid pull in voters.
It marks a crucial new phase in Labour’s election strategy as their position in the polls crumbles.
Gordon Brown told the News of the World he was “upping the tempo” in the last few weeks of the campaign, by “visiting more places and more people”.And he admitted there were “ups and downs to any campaign”, as the party falls to THIRD place in the polls behind the Tories and the Lib Dems.
The PM tried to dismiss his dismal failure at the leaders’ debates as down to the “novelty of having debates on TV where people are judged on style.”
But yesterday it became apparent the party was focusing on scaremongering about Tory cuts to public services in a desperate bid to pull in voters.
Gordon Brown said at the rally yesterday: “The Tories want to promote themselves as the party of the NHS, but look at the small print.
“Take a second look at the Conservative party manifesto. The difference is between whether you believe in a society where each of us should help each other, it’s about whether your priority is tax cuts for the few or public services for the many.”And Health Secretary Andy Burnham, also at the rally, added: “The Tories are fair-weather friends of the NHS whose support is only skin-deep. They are planning real cuts to the NHS.”
In a private briefing the PM also tried to claim teachers’ and public sector workers would only lose their jobs under a Tory Government.
He said: “Our policy in maintaining support for the economy is absolutely the right one. Jobs would be at risk, the recovery would be at risk, if we withdrew support for the economy now.
“Everything the Conservatives have said on the economy is wrong.“Conservative plans to take six billion pounds out of the economy would mean… lost teachers’ jobs, lost police jobs and lost care service jobs.
“They must explain why their policy is of any benefit to the people of Britain.”
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