THE Conservatives' election campaign has descended into "desperation and panic", according to Ed Miliband, after David Cameron unveiled plans to offer all UK workers three paid days off for volunteering and to freeze commuter rail fares south of Border.

 

In another move, on what was dubbed "freebie Friday", Nick Clegg set out plans to enable grown-up children, who were still living with their parents, could claim a UK Government loan of up to £2000 to enable them to move out and rent their own homes.

During his campaign visit to Scotland, the Labour leader hit out at the Conservatives, saying: "Desperation is becoming the hallmark of David Cameron and this Tory campaign. This week we have seen them defending the non-doms and descending to personal abuse. Today, in further signs of panic, they are announcing billions of pounds of unfunded and unbelievable promises.

"They can't explain where the money is coming from. They can't tell us how they will make these promises happen. They simply won't be believed. And the result if they were returned to government would be even greater spending cuts, putting the NHS at risk, with inevitable rises in VAT."

But the Prime Minister, on the stump in Devon, said extending the RPI inflation cap on regulated ticket prices for another five years would save the average commuter hundreds of pounds.

The Lib-Con Coalition has imposed the same restrictions for the past two years and also removed the "'flex" train that allowed operators to increase some fares by more than inflation as long as others went up by less.

However, Mick Cash, leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, was critical. "This latest stunt would still mean annual fare increases that would institutionalise the harsh reality that the British passenger pays the highest fares in Europe to travel on rammed out and unreliable trains.

"The only solution is to end the rip-off of rail privatisation, which would allow us to free up the hundreds of millions of pounds drained off in profits to invest in services and cut fares," he added.

Meantime after Mr Cameron unveiled Tory plans to grant up to 15m workers three days' statutory leave for voluntary work as part of his Big Society programme, his Conservative Cabinet colleague Eric Pickles stepped in to make clear companies would not be forced to organise the paid time off.

Asked whether the policy would put a burden on private companies, the Communities Secretary insisted it would not.

"It's no different from annual leave and these companies will get a benefit of having an engaged workforce; they're going to have the advantage of putting something back into society and it's all about ensuring that volunteering is something that people can do."

Mr Pickles added: "Nobody is forcing anybody to volunteer and no-one is forcing companies to organise this volunteering if it causes problems to the company."

But Labour's Lisa Nandy raised concerns about the cost and said Mr Cameron had made the same promise in 2008 but failed to deliver on it with levels of volunteering falling since the coalition came to power.

"This is a re-announcement from David Cameron that has unravelled before it's even been made," she claimed.

Earlier, the Prime Minister defended his party's election strategy, insisting the Tories were making a "very strong argument" for power and that he would continue to frame the General Election in presidential terms as a choice between himself and Mr Miliband as Prime Minister.

"I am talking about this every day, which is: there is a choice of leaders and there is a choice of teams to run this country."

Asked if he liked Mr Miliband personally, Mr Cameron replied: "I don't really know him, to be honest...but we have a profound disagreement about how to run the country. In the end, whether you call it personal or not, elections are about choosing the team to take the country forward."

The Tory leader denied his party had suffered a "sticky" week of campaigning. "I wouldn't say that is what has happened at all. I would say you have seen a very strong argument coming from the Conservative Party; that argument is only getting stronger."

Mr Cameron repeated his warning of the dangers of a minority Labour administration propped up by the SNP in a hung Parliament, claiming that Mr Miliband's party already appeared to be "in alliance almost with the SNP".