Brown: War intervention

As the political parties gear up for a final poll push the chancellor has called on parliament to be given a formal role in sanctioning war.

In an interview which comes after days of damaging revelations about the government's handling of the Iraq conflict, Gordon Brown said MPs should be asked to formally approve any future military action.

The government gave parliament a vote on the Iraq war and Brown said this process should be formalised to reform the principle of of "royal prerogative" - which gives the prime minister ultimate power to launch military action.

"Now that there has been a vote on these issues so clearly and in such controversial circumstances, I think it is unlikely that except in the most exceptional circumstances a government would choose not to have a vote in parliament," said Brown.

"I think Tony Blair would join me in saying that, having put this decision to parliament, people would expect these kinds of decisions to go before parliament."

Move on

The comments, which came in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper, are being seen as an attempt to take the sting out of the row surrounding the attorney general's legal advice on the war.

As politicians headed into a weekend in which all three main parties will mount a renewed poll push, the Conservatives are also seeking to move on from the Iraq row.

After questioning the prime minister's integrity, Michael Howard is shifting his focus to the more positive message of what a Tory administration would do in its early days in office.

On Monday he will unveil an eight point action plan through which voters can hold his government to account.

"I will be announcing my priority tasks for an incoming Conservative government," said Howard on Saturday.

"Eight actions that will make a real difference, each with a specific date attached, so that people can put them in their calendar and hold us to account.

"Action on crime will be one of those priority tasks. If the British people elect me as prime minister next Thursday, I would know that they had sent me a clear message about their wish to fight crime.

"I'm not going to hang around. And I won't. I will be a prime minister who rolls up his sleeves and gets things done."

Poll push

Tony Blair, meanwhile, took Saturday off the campaign trail as he prepares to up tempo with a final poll push which begins with three election rallies on Sunday.

Labour, however, used a series of media events on Saturday to deny claims that its targets culture has damaged patient care in the NHS.

Health secretary John Reid said a small number of GPs had misunderstood the guidance governing access to advance appointments.

But mounting an attack on the Conservatives he warned that patients would have to win the lottery before they could afford to benefit from Tory plans to allow patients to pay half the cost of private sector treatment in order to escape waiting NHS lists.

War

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy is campaigning close to his north of Scotland home this weekend ahead of his final poll onslaught.

As the campaign enters its final days, Kennedy appears set to return to the subject of the Iraq war.

The move comes amid growing fears that traditional Labour supporters could be set to record their support for the Liberal Democrats.

Senior Labour sources believe their support should hold up, but have warned that up to 50 Conservative MPs could be let in "through the backdoor" if Labour supporters defect to Kennedy's Lib Dems.

In an upbeat performance, the Lib Dem leader said he hopes to secure "a lot more MPs".

"Clearly, Labour are rather worried about the Liberal Democrat challenge. There is no danger of a Michael Howard Conservative government," he said.

"People can go out there and vote for what they believe in and agree with, confident in the knowledge that he's not going to be prime minister and that Tony Blair should certainly not enjoy another three-figure majority."