Mr Ashdown said: "I entirely welcome the fact that the Labour leader thinks his party ought to be a party of the centre." But he dismissed both the idea that Labour councils such as Liverpool were of the centre, and the threat from New Labour. Paddy Ashdown pre-empted moves by the two main parties by launching the Liberal Democrats' local election campaign yesterday, brushing aside the idea that he might be squeezed by Tony Blair's move to claim Labour as a "party of the centre", writes John Rentoul. refresh our commitment to local government".t A new call for Labour's plans for Scottish devolution to be ratified by a referendum is made by the left-of-centre Institute of Public Policy Research today. The IPPR also calls for the number of Scottish Westminster MPs to be reduced and Secretary of State for Scotland to be abolished in return for the creation of a Scottish Parliament.. But according to the leak the anonymous minister has broken ranks with Tory policy with proposals to counter Labour's plans, saying they would "give us something fresh and ... In a letter to the Downing Street Policy Unit, the minister proposes that the wealthy City of London Corporation - which Labour would preserve - should disappear under plans for a new central elected authority.Two ministers with London constituencies have denied writing the letter.

Mr Blair will now go significantly further in his speech to a conference on the future of the capital in making it clear that he wants the idea fully developed in time for inclusion in the general election manifesto.The idea comes in the wake of leaks suggesting that at least one government minister has become converted to the idea of a wider elected authority for London. Mr Blair has won over sceptics, widely believed to have included his environment spokes-man, Frank Dobson, and will today say he regards the idea of directly elected mayors as a key way to revive local democracy. Although he has floated the idea before it was only briefly mentioned in the document on London published by the party last week and there has been strong opposition from some council leaders. Tony Blair, the Labour leader, will today give an unmistakable signal of his intention to go ahead with plans for big-city mayors - including one for London - after overcoming opposition within his own party. But Lewis Moonie, Labour's broadcasting spokesman, has argued for an end to thresholds..

The record last wicket stand of 249 at the Oval in 1946 was scored by the opposition - by CT Sarwate and SN Banerjee playing for India against Surrey.Labour was at least rattled during the second reading of the Broadcasting Bill as Virginia Bottomley highlighted the party's U-turn on cross-media ownership rules. Labour had lurched from "paranoid terror" to "sycophantic devotion" to media groups, the Heritage Secretary said.The Bill eases restrictions on cross-media ownership and paves the way for digital television in Britain, but Mrs Bottomley said there was no commonsense justification for moving at one bound to wholesale deregulation.Both the Mirror Group and Rupert Murdoch's News International are excluded from control of ITV companies, because each has more than 20 per cent of national newspaper circulation. "I look forward certainly at the Oval to seeing many performances like that by Surrey, perhaps by England. And I have absolutely no doubt that politically we will see their equivalent."Fortunately for the cheering Tories, nobody on the Opposition benches had a Wisden to hand. "Does the Prime Minister take encouragement from the fact that this summer at the Oval will see the 50th anniversary of the longest and largest stand for the last wicket in the history of English cricket?" asked Mr Brooke.A Surrey supporter, Mr Major said he was aware of the anniversary. Miss Boothroyd ruled out any answer.It was left to former Tory cabinet minister Peter Brooke to offer Mr Major a refuge in an analogy from his favourite world of willow and leather.

But this gift was snatched from the Prime Minister's hands by Speaker Betty Boothroyd with a reminder that questions should be related to Government policy. Mr Major mischievously welcomed her to the chamber, saying he was delighted she had been "untied and ungagged" but went easy on her suggestion that those on pounds 34,000-plus should pay more to the Exchequer.Mr Blair said the underlying reason for last Thursday's by-election defeat last was that people did not trust the Tories on railways, on tax, or on the health service - "and the sooner they get the chance to say so loud and clear the better for Britain".Tory backbencher Geoffrey Clifton-Brown asked Mr Major about an article in the Sunday Express newspaper claiming Mr Blair had told journalists that the top rate of tax would be raised for those on pounds 30,000.The figure was then raised to pounds 40,000 and subsequently denied altogether by Labour spin doctors, Mr Clifton-Brown said. With Brian Jenkins, the man who cut Mr Major's majority to just one, waiting in the wings to take his Commons seat, the first Question Time after the Easter recess was a romp for Labour. Mr Blair repeatedly pressed the Prime Minister to explain the defeat then supplied his own answers - "People don't trust the Conservative Party any more" - while Mr Major failed to make much capital out of Labour's mixed messages on tax.Clare Short, the Shadow transport secretary who dared to speak her mind, was on the Opposition front bench for the exchanges. Its report calls for housing benefit for young people to be the same for those over 25, and for a national strategy to tackle youth homelessness..

John Major yesterday declared himself dug in for the political equivalent of a record final wicket stand as Tony Blair exploited the Conservatives' humiliation in the South East Staffordshire by-election. One-third reported living that way before going to Centrepoint.Many young people may find it difficult to be accepted as officially homeless because they have to be proved "vulnerable", the report said, and social services operate different criteria to assess vulnerability.Centrepoint also says that measures in the last Budget restricting housing benefit to under-25s to the local average "single room rent" will limit the already restricted choice of private-sector accommodation available. More than four in ten had no income whatsoever on arriving at Centrepoint.Large numbers of young and vulnerable people were still found to be sleeping rough before they make their way to a hostel. This compares with a a 5.5 per cent overall proportion of the population belonging to ethnic minorities.While three-quarters were actively seeking employment, only about 1 in 20 had any sort of work, although 61 per cent had gained some kind of qualification. The report, The New Picture of Youth Homelessness in Britain, says the problem is not just limited to London anymore, but is a national issue.The study looked at six centres around the country and found that nearly 3,000 young people were monitored in Dorset, in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and Purbeck. Similarly, the Simon Community in Northern Ireland saw 2,044.Nearly four out of ten people arriving at Centrepoint - which caters for those between 16 and 25 - were17 years or younger and 48 per cent were either black or from ethnic minorities. Efforts to help young homeless people continue to be hampered by the confusion of housing and social services using different legislation.