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The Labour Party easily retained three Westminster and one Scottish parliamentary seats in by-elections last night easing government

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The Labour Party easily retained three Westminster and one Scottish parliamentary seats in by-elections last night, easing government fears of slipping popularity. The comfortable wins reinforced expectations that Mr Blair will take advantage of Labour's current political lead over the Conservative Party and call for early elections next year.The three seats in the House of Commons were recently left vacant by the resignation of speaker Betty Boothroyd and the deaths of two longtime MP, Scottish first minister Donald Dewar and Audrey Wise.Mrs Boothroyd's seat in West Bromwich West was won by Adrian Bailey; Mrs Wise's seat in Preston was claimed by Mark Hendrick; and Mr Dewar's seats in Glasgow Anniesland were secured by John Robertson, the new MP, and Bill Butler, the new MSP.The Tories claimed a significant swing in their favour in what were Labour "heartland" seats.But Scottish Secretary Dr John Reid hailed the results as "excellent" for Labour, insisting Conservatives would have to be winning Government seats at this stage of the Parliament if they were to have any chance of victory in the General Election.Liberal Democrat Leader Charles Kennedy said: "The by-elections show no enthusiasm for Labour, no hope for the Tories and a steady advance for the Liberal Democrats.. Tony Blair was under mounting pressure over Europe last night with three potentially damaging lines of attack adding to the Government's woes. Tony Blair was under mounting pressure over Europe last night with three potentially damaging lines of attack adding to the Government's woes. Most alarmingly it emerged that the Prime Minister's hopes of making only limited concessions at next month's EU summit in Nice were fading when France, which holds the rotating presidency, stepped up its effort to win a big extension of majority voting, reducing the power of member states to veto new laws.Coincidentally Wim Duisenberg, president of the European Central Bank, suggested that the Government's much-heralded five economic tests for joining the single currency were irrelevant. He told MEPs the tests were "somewhat different" from the requirements for joining set out in the Maastricht Treaty, which were the only relevant criteria.The Treasury insisted his remarks had been taken "out of context". Officials said the five tests would determine whether the Government decided to apply to join, and the Maastricht criteria would kick in only after an application was made.The developments came against an increasingly heated government response to Eurosceptic newspapers in Britain with Mr Blair heightening hostilities in an attempt to turn the tide towards the EU.France tabled a new draft EU treaty which includes a wider extension of majority voting than previous drafts.

It calls for an end to the national veto in 52 areas, including social security - an issue on which Britain looks increasingly isolated.Mr Blair will not be alone in opposing new moves to "eliminate harmful tax competition" and will veto the plan. But France's hardline negotiating tactics suggest the Prime Minister faces an uphill struggle to win public support for the treaty which emerges in Nice.Ministers have been taken aback by the hostile press coverage over moves to set up an EU rapid reaction force for peace-keeping and humanitarian missions. The plan has been under discussion for two years and the Government had not expected its approval this week to cause controversy.Yesterday Mr Blair led an unprecedented attack on the Daily Mail after one of its columnists accused General Sir Charles Guthrie, Chief of the Defence Staff, of being a Blair "crony" for not opposing the EU defence co-operation. The article said he had presided over "the greatest political defeat inflicted on our armed forces this century."Mr Blair, who has made strenuous efforts to woo theMail since becoming Labour leader in 1994, led criticism of the newspaper at yesterday's cabinet meeting, condemning the article as "an absolutely disgraceful attack" on Sir Charles.The Prime Minister's fightback was boosted last night when the former Tory chancellor Kenneth Clarke told the Commons the defence co-operation plan was started under John Major's government.Mr Blair's attack on the Eurosceptic press marks a significant change of strategy in the run-up to the general election expected in six months.Downing Street advisers believe that, having won its economic credentials, Labour is now confident enough to fight the election on its own terms rather than the those of the Tories. The Prime Minister now intends to appeal to readers of the Eurosceptic press to doubt the accuracy of their newspapers' coverage of Europe. Mr Blair's aides believe the wave of Euroscepticism must be checked before it builds into demands for British withdrawal from the EU.William Hague ridiculed Mr Blair's "extraordinary" counter-attack last night. The Tory leader told activists in Scotland that the Prme Minister was "lashing out wildly" as he struggled to deal the "military mess he has got the country in and the political mess he has got himself in"..

The "Caring Conservatism" championed by Michael Portillo, the shadow Chancellor, would lead to the collapse of society, Lord Tebbit said yesterday. The "Caring Conservatism" championed by Michael Portillo, the shadow Chancellor, would lead to the collapse of society, Lord Tebbit said yesterday. The former Tory chairman widened the divide between the two wings of the party by warning that Mr Portillo's call for greater tolerance towards gays and ethnic minorities would weaken the family."The advocates of multiculturalism and of sexual licence, which undermines the family, are advocates not of freedom but of perpetual instability and disorder," he wrote in The Spectator magazine.Lord Tebbit's attack provided further evidence that Mr Portillo had alienated his one-time admirers on the party's Thatcherite wing, who saw him as Baroness Thatcher's natural heir. She is said to regard him as "confused" ever since his speech to the Tory conference last month in which he urged the party to be inclusive towards minority groups.Yesterday, allies of Mr Portillo dismissed the Tebbit attack and claimed the shadow Chancellor was winning the battle to persuade William Hague, the party's leader, to endorse his brand of "social libertarianism" and reject the hardline approach advocated by Ann Widdecombe, the shadow Home Secretary.The Portillo camp claimed the credit for Mr Hague's declaration this week that the party welcomed people with different sexual orientations and backgrounds, and reaffirmed his personal support for the age of homosexual consent to be reduced to 16.But allies of Mr Hague denied that pressure from Mr Portillo was behind the Tory leader's comments. They insisted that his stance had not changed."The muddle over Conservative policy on drugs and the coming-out of the new touchy-feely, pink-pound Portillo, has re-energised the long-running tug-of-war between Tory permissives and social paternalists," Lord Tebbit wrote.He appeared to cast doubt on Mr Portillo's economic credentials - even though the shadow Chancellor's allies insist he is "hard on economics and soft on social issues". Lord Tebbit said: "Most of those faithful to Thatcherite economics are social paternalists, while soggy economic interventionists tend to be soggy social liberals."Lord Tebbit warned of the "scale of social disintegration" being brought about by permissive ideas, threatening society with a rising tide of crime, vice and pornography. He accused the Church of scarcely recognising any sins but racism, sexism and homophobia..

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