Brown set to call 6 May election as Mandelson turns fire on Cameron

Labour will not win the general election by running a "safety first" campaign contrasting Gordon Brown's experience with David Cameron's lack of it, Lord Mandelson warned yesterday.

The Secretary of State for Business, who heads Labour's campaign for the May election which is to be formally triggered today, told The Independent Labour would enthuse the voters by showing it had the big ideas to meet the huge economic challenges facing Britain.

After a 9.15am meeting of his Cabinet, the Prime Minister will travel to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament, which will wind up next Monday.

Mr Brown will highlight three main election themes today: securing economic recovery, protecting frontline public services while halving the public deficit, and renewing the political system after the expenses controversy. Warning that the Conservative Party would "take us back on the road to recession", he will embark on a "canteen campaign" to meet voters in their workplaces, communities and homes.

Mr Cameron will say: "We're fighting this election for the Great Ignored. Young, old, rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight. They start businesses, operate factories, teach our children, clean the streets, grow our food and keep us healthy – keep us safe. They work hard, pay their taxes, obey the law. They're good, decent people – they're the people of Britain and they want a reason to believe anything is still possible in our country."

For the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg will declare that today marks "the beginning of the end for Gordon Brown".

Tax and spending look set to dominate the four-week campaign. Lord Mandelson told The Independent of Labour's plans to turn the tables on the Tories, who bolstered their position in the opinion polls by pledging to block the 1 per cent rise in national insurance contributions (NICs) due in a year's time.

He accused Mr Cameron of swapping his "age of austerity" and "tough medicine" for an "age of opportunism and soft choices" by promising to fund the NICs reversal from £6bn of unspecified efficiency savings. This would "pose a clear and present danger to Britain's fragile economy recovery" and only Labour would take the "hard choices" needed to secure it. "People know we are out of the woods, that it is tough. They will look to a government that is tough rather than crowd-pleasing," he said.

Lord Mandelson said: "If this election becomes a battle between small ideas, rival parochialism and soft options, we will not win it. Lift the race, on the other hand, to a higher level of the scale and importance for our country's future and what needs to be done, and we have everything to play for.

"Labour's argument will not be, 'Trust us, we have the experience, back safety first'. Rather, the case for Labour in 2010 is that we have experience and depth, and our understanding of the huge challenges of national renewal facing this country at this critical juncture is better than our opponents'. We learn for the future, drawing on our experience of office but not trapped by it."

Addressing party workers at Labour HQ yesterday, Lord Mandelson shrugged off the support for the Tories' move on NICs by 39 leading business figures. He said: "It is true that the Tories have newspaper owners, rich donors and some people seeking preferment under a Tory Government. By the same token, we [Labour] can demonstrate to the public that we don't have newspaper owners, rich donors or somebody pulling our strings, and are securing the recovery for the country as a whole."

George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, issued his strongest pledge yet that he does not plan to fill the hole in the public finances by raising VAT, as Labour claims. "We don't plan an increase in VAT," he said. "The tax increases are already in place."

Last night a poll for The Sun gave the Tories a 10-point lead, giving the party more than 40 per cent of support for the first time in a YouGov survey since January. The Conservatives are on 41 per cent, Labour 31 per cent and the Liberal Democrats 18 per cent. But an ICM poll for The Guardian put the Tories on 37 per cent, Labour on 33 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 21 per cent.

Clock starts ticking: Likely election timetable

Today Brown hosts cabinet meeting between 9.15 and 10am before heading to Buckingham Palace for permission to dissolve Parliament. Will then return to Downing Street to announce the 6 May election date.

Tomorrow Last government business rushed through Parliament as "wash up" begins.

Thursday Last Prime Minister's Questions.

12 April Parliament dissolved. Campaign starts officially.

13 April UK trade figures for February announced.

15 April First prime ministerial debate between Brown, Cameron and Clegg (ITV, subject: domestic politics). Brown may head to US for a photo op with Obama during a nuclear disarmament summit.

20 April More economic figures arrive, as inflation statistics for March are published.

21 April Crucial unemployment figures for the first quarter of 2010.

22 April Second debate, on Sky. Subject: foreign affairs.

23 April Growth figures could see Britain slip into a "double dip" recession.

29 April Third and potentially most important leaders' debate, on BBC1. Subject: the economy.

6 May Election day.