Labour activists have poured scorn on a new plan to attack the Conservatives by portraying David Cameron as an 'old-school Tory', saying it will only make him "more popular"
After the Observer reported a briefing note planning to brand the prime minister as "recognisably rightwing", party figures, including former general secretary Peter Watt, made their discomfort clear.
On Sunday morning Watt told Huff Post UK: "If it's true then I think it's fundamentally flawed and actually emphasises the very policies that will make David Cameron more popular."
According to the Observer, the briefing note, written by Shaun Woodward - the former Conservative MP who defected to Labour in 1999 and became Northern Ireland Secretary says: "Like first world war generals, we must avoid making all our preparations for the last battle rather than the next... indeed, the very terrain on which we will fight is changing."
It urges Labour campaigners to highlight where the Conservatives are more right-wing, on issues such as immigration and policing.
"But here is the paradox: whilst the Tories made changes before the election – intended to convince the public they were compassionate – since the election (and especially in the last few months) the Tories have taken major strides back towards their ideological roots. Buffeted by events, there is a growing incoherence between 'liberal conservatism' and the increasingly shrill language the Tories are using as they vacate the centre ground."
Editor of grassroots Labour website, LabourList, Mark Ferguson, told Huff Post UK the party's current line of attack was working: "Dozens of these kind of papers are produced by all political parties each year. Let's not presume this will be Labour's strategy in the coming months - especially as characterising Cameron as a weak, u-turning flip flopper is having an effect so far."
A Labour party spokesman said the note was not an "official" Labour document so they could not comment.