Mr Gilchrist gets second phone call saying the 7.30am deadline cannot be met.7.25am: Executive reconvenes and decides within minutes to go ahead with the strike after being told Mr Prescott cannot see the document until 9am.7.30am: An angry Mr Gilchrist walks into the hotel lobby to tell waiting media the strike is on, blaming government "interference". FBU officials, drawn from all over Britain, go back to their members to organise the industrial action. Minutes later, a fire alarm goes off in the hotel and guests are evacuated while firefighters from nearby Euston fire station check the building and return to their station.9am: Soldiers, sailors and airmen crewing the Green Goddess fire engines are put on alert as firefighters walk out of stations across the country.11am: At the daily lobby briefing, the Prime Minister's spokesman says union and management tried to "bounce" the Government into accepting a deal. He agrees with Mr Raynsford that it contained none of the proposals for modernisation in the Bain report.. Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesman, is being treated for cancer. Mr Campbell, regarded as the party's elder statesman, is to have chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

His chances of recovery are regarded as good.The cancer of the lymphatic glands was discovered during a medical investigation into a problem with an old hip injury.The politician's office said he would fulfil his obligations as an MP as far as his treatment allowed and that he would continue to fulfil his obligations as a member of Parliament as far as his treatment would allow.Mr Campbell has shaped the Liberal Democrat policy on over Iraq and has recently committed himself to a gruelling schedule of media broadcasts on the subject.The Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, said: "He is a great character in the Commons We wish him a speedy recovery.". When he delivers his pre-Budget report on Wednesday, the Chancellor is expected to downgrade his forecast of growth of between 2 and 2.5 per cent this year to somewhere near the 1.5 per cent predicted by the City. Mr Brown, who is likely to announce a rise in government borrowing to bridge the gap, has warned that Britain cannot be insulated from the world's "delayed economic recovery".But Mr Howard insisted that the £15bn-a-year burden imposed on business through tax and red tape by Labour was having "a very significant impact" on competitiveness. "That is one of the reasons why the economy is not growing faster We are sleepwalking to decline.

That is because of the policies of this Government," he said."We cannot continue indefinitely raising public spending at a rate that is growing much faster than the economy as a whole. It is an absolutely unsustainable course." He predicted Mr Brown would trim his forecasts for growth, government revenue and borrowing. "In April, he raised his forecast for growth when most independent forecasters were reducing theirs. If they could see the storm clouds gathering over the world economy, why couldn't he?" At some point, the shadow Chancellor is convinced, Mr Brown will have a "black hole" in the nation's finances. "If he carries on spending at this rate, he will have to continue putting taxes up even further. We have already had a massively increased tax burden equivalent to £40 for every man, woman and child in the country."Why, then, is Labour still so far ahead in the opinion polls? "Because most people are in work, their mortgage interest rates are low, the value of their houses keeps going up and they think they are well off," Mr Howard said.He believes the Chancellor'sluck is running out "He has had a golden legacy That is what he has been riding for the last five years. But the consequences of his actions are now coming home to roost."Some Tories, including Kenneth Clarke, have suggested that the Opposition is not landing enough blows on Mr Brown "People are entitled to their views," Mr Howard said.

Another criticism is that the Tories will not make headway until they reveal their policies But Mr Howard is in no hurry. He said it was "taking some time" because the party was doing "serious work" which would "convince the people of this country that we can make their everyday lives better". Although it was not about "soundbites, slogans or headlines", he promised: "It will mark a sea change. It be the most radical set of proposals for more than a generation."Mr Howard has downgraded the Tories' long-standing commitment to tax cuts. "I would like to go into the next election offering tax cuts, but we may not be able to do that. Dealing with the crisis in our public services is top of our list of priorities," he said.During the recent turmoil that engulfed the Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, Mr Howard was touted as a possible successor.