Michael Howard has admitted the Conservatives are split over the size of tax cuts to tempt voters.

The Tory leader told BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine programme: "It is perfectly true that I am being attacked on one side by people who think we ought to be promising much, much bigger tax cuts and spending cuts.

"On the other side, there are people who say we will not be able to achieve these tax cuts. I think we have got it about right."

Meanwhile, in a letter to the Tory leadership, John Prescott asked for the full details of the party's £35 billion savings programme rather than executive summaries.

The deputy prime minister wrote: "If you are going to persuade people that you can fulfil your commitments, then surely it is incumbent upon you to publish the detailed assumptions upon which these pledges and promises are made."