AS THE Conservative Party announced plans to privatise the London Underground, describing it as a key general election issue yesterday, the deputy leader of the Labour party admitted its plans for government were not ambitious enough.
Mr John Prescott's surprising admission came as he introduced the Labour party's new poster of a Union Jack flag while on the by-election campaign trail in Wirral South.
"We have put our programme to the people. They clearly understand it. It is not as ambitious as any party would like to give. It is not everything we would want" he explained.
Although all the opinion polls suggest Labour will win the by-election tomorrow, the deputy Prime Minister, Mr Michael Heseltine, appeared optimistic as he toured the constituency despite refusing to repeat his recent prediction that the voter will "kick" the British government.
"You don't have to be very clever to work out that in by-elections governments have had problems. But the Conservative position is clear. We are fighting to win and we deserve to win. The mood is changing every day. I do not think in terms of losing," he added.
However, Mr Heseltine did predict that the Tories would win the general election with a "majority of 60, nudging up."
Unveiling their key general election policy, the British Transport Secretary, Sir George Young, promised London Underground passengers they "had nothing to fear" from privatisation.
Government sources said the aim was to clear London Underground's investment back-log of £1.2 billion over five years.
The transport system, which carries over a million passengers a day, is currently the only one in Britain which has not yet been privatised. "I believe this is the right way forward for London Underground and the only way to get the network we need for the 21st century," Sir George explained.
However, Labour and several businessmen argued that years of government under-funding had resulted in an old and failing system, making privatisation unworkable.
The Shadow Transport Secretary, Mr Andrew Smith, predicted that a number of stations would be closed, putting many services out of London at risk, and reaffirmed Labour's pledge to scrap any privatisation plans if they win the general election.
Mr Lew Adams, the general secretary of ASLEF (the train drivers' union), predicted that the privatisation of the Underground would be an "even bigger disaster" than the sell-off of the railways.