BRITAIN: Labour will launch its manifesto for a historic third term in government this morning, cheered by the latest polls showing supporters rallying to the "dual" leadership of its election campaign by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
However questions about the Blair-Brown "truce" were dangerously revived last night when former cabinet minister Robin Cook suggested there had been a decisive shift in the balance of power between the two men, and that the chancellor could become prime minister "sooner rather than later".
And the chancellor himself will come under pressure over his failure to rule out further tax rises by way of increased national insurance contributions, after a day devoted to depicting the Conservatives' economic plans as "an incoherent mess".
As Labour published a detailed dossier attacking shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin's spending commitments, Mr Brown said they represented an economic risk which would "force Britain back to the stop-go of the past".
Mr Brown said that, when all the Conservative plans were taken into account, Mr Letwin had "a black hole" of some £50 billion over a three-year period which would require either huge spending cuts or increased borrowing which the Bank of England would have to take into account and which would in turn put pressure on interest rates.
Mr Brown said that when he was in opposition he had refused to make commitments unless he could show where the money was coming from to finance Labour projects, while Mr Letwin was refusing to give the detail he (Mr Brown) was putting to the Conservatives' plans.
"For eight years we have worked to establish and then entrench economic stability for Britain," said Mr Brown.
"I believe British people will conclude that Britain cannot now afford a Conservative economic plan to be implemented in seven weeks' time that would repeat John Major's mistake of putting British economic stability at risk. But only the Conservatives could manage to offer the electorate the extraordinary combination, a black hole and severe public spending cuts."
However, Conservative leader Michael Howard professed himself delighted by the Labour assault, which he claimed showed Mr Blair and Mr Brown had "lost the plot" over Conservative spending plans.
With Labour's attack apparently shifting from one on planned cuts to unaffordable spending, Mr Howard insisted: "The truth is neither. Mr Blair is clearly rattled and clearly, I think, he has lost the plot. His slogan is 'Forward Not Back', and he is not talking about his own plans at all."
Mr Brown said Labour's manifesto would show that stability was the foundation of the government's economic success, "affirming that we will never take risks with hard-won economic stability and demonstrating that our commitment to investment in our priorities is based on detailed published plans".
However, there was some dismay among the Labour high command last night as Mr Cook's intervention again turned the spotlight on the hopes and plans of Labour dissidents to see Mr Brown replace Mr Blair as soon as possible after the election.
Writing in the London Evening Standard, Mr Cook - who quit the cabinet over the Iraq war, and has been tipped for a return in the event of a Brown premiership - said he had been told a couple of months ago by "a member of the Blair inner circle" of plans to "evict" Mr Brown from the Treasury after the election.
"How long ago that conversation now seems," said Mr Cook.
"It appears almost unkind to remind the Blair camp that only a few weeks ago they were so confident they could get along without Gordon.
"Now they cannot get enough of the Brown magic."
Suggesting that the Blair camp now realised that the chancellor was more popular with the public than the prime minister, Mr Cook concluded:
"Some day that removal van will appear outside the Treasury. But the irony is that it will be there to shift Brown's files into No 10. The first week of the election campaign suggests that day may come sooner rather than later."