Labour unfazed at class war claim

David Miliband has made clear that accusations of "class war" will not force Labour to give up its portrayal of David Cameron's Conservatives as the party of privilege.

Speaking as polls showed the Tory lead over Labour dipping below 10 points, the Foreign Secretary accused Mr Cameron of planning "the biggest redistribution of wealth to the wealthy in two generations".

Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth appeared to let slip the date of the General Election, telling Sky News' Sunday Live that voters "will wake up and rue the day if they wind up with a Conservative Government in charge of this country after May 6".

Mr Miliband brushed off questions about his leadership ambitions, insisting he remains "110%" behind Gordon Brown, who he said would lead Labour into the General Election in "three or four months" time as the party of "real change".

Labour should "pick up the gauntlet that the Tories have thrown down" with their Time For Change slogan, Mr Miliband told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.

"They say they want this to be an election about change - so do we. We want it to be an election about real change."

Labour's manifesto would look to the future by "building on" the party's achievements in bringing down crime, restraining the rise in unemployment during the recession and delivering improvements in the treatment of acute conditions in the NHS, he said.

And contrasting this package with the Conservatives' offer to the voters, he said: "What do they actually stand for? Abolishing inheritance tax, bringing back fox-hunting and isolating ourselves in Europe.

"That's not what the country needs. That's not change. That's driving with one eye on the rear-view mirror."

Since Mr Brown's jibe that Conservative tax policies were developed "on the playing fields of Eton", Labour has been accused by critics of retreating to its core of working-class support and giving up the political middle ground.