Michael Howard addresses this morning's Conservative press conference. Photograph: Gareth Copley/PA
While the papers today are full of a Tory "wobble" ("Are you sinking what we're sinking?" as one cartoon put it), the Conservatives have turned back to one of their pet subjects – yob culture. This morning will see the launch of a five-point plan, and, more significantly, the first appearance on the London campaign trail from the shadow home secretary, David Davis, who has been holed up in his East Yorkshire constituency fending off a Lib Dem challenge.
The five points are: more police (with local accountability), removing the presumption in favour of late night drinking, ending irresponsible drink promotions, new powers to tackle late night disorder hotspots, and "a greater say for local people".
Media-watchers perk up at a rare appearance in the journalists' scrum from former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore, now working on the official biography of Margaret Thatcher.
Mr Howard starts briskly by accusing Tony Blair of "lying" over Tory spending proposals, and now on "false claims" over the NHS. Dramatically breaking off his scheduled topic, he challenges the PM to withdraw "every poster, every leaflet" that contains these "lies".
9am: The Tory leader attacks the "fear of crime" thesis, saying: "People are afraid of crime – because there's a lot of it around. I want to put fear into the heart of yobs." Mr Howard's delivery is pacy and angry, perhaps anticipating those "Tory wobble" questions. Mr Davis's pledge to end police form-filling for street stops is illustrated by the seven pages in question flashing up behind him on the digital screens behind him: "red tape gone mad", he calls it. Mr Davis goes on to extrapolate a theory of "building out" crime in social housing, ending communal areas and creating more private spaces and car parking.
ITN asks about the Guardian's front page story today, which says frontbench Tories rang Michael Howard at the weekend to criticise the leader's focus on immigration. "No. We have had no such calls, neither to me, nor to my office," says Mr Howard.
9.10am: The Tory leader says "five years more of talk" is all that would result if today's opinion polls are correct, and there is a third Labour landslide. He refuses to be drawn on his seemingly apocalyptic warnings on TV last night about the future of race relations if current immigration policies continue, but criticises the government's response to the Bradford riots a few years ago. David Davis reassures the BBC he'll be back in the next parliament – but dismisses a question about his future leadership ambitions.
Mr Howard bats away questions about Rupert Murdoch's "intervention" in the election campaign, - Mr Murdoch is reported to have made comments apparently rejecting the Tories' policy on immigration. In the final question of the session, he also says that claims that the Tories' proposed "bond" scheme for employers taking on immigrant workers would cost around £1.1bn is "based on a fundamental misconception", and that the government, not the employer or the NHS, would pay the interest on the bond.
