British Prime Minister Tony Blair today called for Britain to be confident of its place in Europe - as the EU and the economy dominated the election agenda.
He said the euro was not an issue for this election but the UK's place in Europe was.
And, launching his party's business manifesto, he attacked the Tories record on the economy. Mr Blair told Labour's election news conference: "A Conservative Party once seen as the party of economic competence is now the party of boom and bust. Their plans would mean massive cuts in public spending or a return to rising debt."
He added: "As we enter the final stages of this election campaign it is right that we return to the fundamental choices before the British people.
"So I make no apologies for returning to the key economic choice today - continuing stability with Labour or boom and bust with the Tories.
"Today it is New Labour that stands for economic competence, while the Tories pose a risk to our economy."
And on Europe, Mr Blair urged: "We have got to have some confidence as a country in the arguments we are putting forward in Europe.
"This is a country that I believe has got sufficient self-confidence and self-belief to go into Europe and win the argument.
"I say we go in there, we make the running and we make the arguments.
"There will be different points of view expressed by different countries. There's an argument, a debate going on in Europe. The place for this country is going in there, winning the debate on British terms."
Former Conservative premiers John Major and Lady Thatcher were also expected on the campaign trail today - both having lost office largely thanks to splits within the Tories over Europe.
Shadow chancellor Michael Portillo again challenged Mr Blair over what question would be on a referendum ballot paper on the euro.
"We in Britain have come to believe over centuries of democratic experience, evolving democratic experience, that when we go to the polls things will be fair - that there will be in the modern jargon a level playing field," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"For the first time this Labour Government is proposing that in elections in this country, vital matters for the future of this country should not be done on a level playing field.
"They will not accept an obligation that the (referendum) question should be fair. They specifically say they are not creating a level playing field."
PA