This is the age group under most financial pressure, having to provide for children and worry about their own retirement. And because they mostly have children, they tend to attach as much importance to education as younger generations. The findings suggest that the issues the Conservatives have made their own - immigration and crime - do not have much resonance with the age group that counts in the election.But Mr Pontell warns that Mr Blair needs to be wary This generation has had its expectations dashed before. "A lot of Jonesers react with a stronger edge when their cynicism is aroused."Carat commissioned CommunicateResearch, a member of the British Polling Council, to interview a random sample of 1,010 adults by telephone on 24 and 25 March. The results have been weighted to be representative of all adults. Details at WORRIED ABOUT CIVIL LIBERTIES'I would never vote Tory'Dr Evan Jones, 39, history lecturer at the University of Bristol. He and his wife, Emma, have two children - Bryn, two, and Catrin, three weeks.Constituency: Bristol WestLabour majority of 4,426; Liberal Democrat target"I am a floating voter but I'd never vote Tory," says Dr Jones.

"I like the stand the Lib Dems are taking on civil liberties The whole idea of suspending habeas corpus is outrageous. The biggest negative I have with the Government is their authoritarian streak I was ambivalent about the war. There wasn't any secret plan where Blair knew there weren't any WMD but went to war all the same. But I'm unhappy with the way they misrepresented the intelligence."His wife, Emma, 37, is similarly undecided. "I feel slightly apathetic about all three parties," she says. "I'm inclined to vote Labour,but I still haven't made my mind up."WORRIED ABOUT STUDENT DEBT'They're good on economy'Julie Ann Jones, 40, an administrator for Age Concern in Selby, North Yorkshire, and husband Mel, 49, a production editor, have two sons, Adam, 11, and Richard, seven.Constituency: SelbyLabour majority of 2,138; Conservative target"I grew up under the Thatcher government and opposed everything they stood for," Mrs Jones says.

"If I thought the Lib Dems could win the seat I would vote for them. But I've got to consider that not voting Labour might let the Tories in."Mr Jones says: "I haven't made up my mind yet The economy is the one area Labour have come out on top .. Tuition fees is a big issue though In seven years' time, Adam will be going to university. He will come out with debts of £30,000 which is just horrible. It has been a bit of a phoney war up until now, but from today the guns will really begin pounding the enemy trenches. It's just common sense."If we don't speak up now and have a proper debate about immigration we'll only help the bigots who preach racial hatred and the people-smugglers who profit from other people's misery. Mr Blair may want to pussyfoot around this issue, but I don't."But Mr Wardle countered by saying: "I am not aware of anyone who has called him racist. It added: "The EU and the UNHCR have set up five pilot schemes for overseas processing centres in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya."But that claim has been flatly contradicted by Ms Dawson-Shepherd.

"It is not correct that overseas processing centres have been established," she said. If you said you thought that too many people were coming here, you were branded a racist Let's be clear: it's not racist to criticise the system. Charles Wardle, a former Tory immigration minister, will make a guest appearance at Labour headquarters to denounce Tory immigration policy as "unworkable".In his speech at the Telford International Centre today, Mr Howard is due to say: "For too many years immigration has been a no-go area for political debate. They claim that the racism charge is being used by opponents to forestall criticism of government policy.But that claim will come under attack today from an unexpected quarter. "Certainly this would not happen in countries with poor human rights records, which are also non-signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention."Mr Howard and his aides have vehemently rejected the suggestions that they are being "racist" by raising issues such as immigration, asylum, and Gypsy camps in an election campaign.

"UNHCR is terribly worried as among some quarters the crisis rhetoric and lumping of asylum with immigration issues continues, often fuelled by thinly disguised xenophobia and political opportunism," she said.Her statement was provoked by a false claim put out by the Conservatives in defence of their much ridiculed promise to set up offshore centres where asylum-seekers can be held while their claims are processed.The Tories issued a press release claiming that the policy would cut the cost of immigration by £897m a year. He will assert that "it's not racist to talk about immigration".His words fly in the face of a sharply worded warning from the British representative of the UNHCR, Anne Dawson-Shepherd, who has accused the Conservatives of making false claims about asylum-seekers and has pleaded with them to "stick to the facts". Michael Howard has been accused by the United Nations refugee agency of indulging in "political opportunism" and encouraging hatred of foreigners by dragging asylum-seekers into party politics. The stinging rebuke comes ahead of Mr Howard's first speech since the official start of the election campaign, in which he will again put immigration into the centre of the political arena by accusing Tony Blair of wanting to "pussyfoot around" the issue. New figures published last month showed that emissions of the gas have actually risen.. It will set out to "zone" the seas, protecting important wildlife areas while marking out others for oil and gas drilling, windfarms, dredging for sand and gravel, and shipping.