David Cameron's Conservatives turned back to their traditional core supporters today with new policies committing the party to boosting the size of the Army and to referendums on the new EU constitution and all future power-grabs by Brussels.

With almost all sides now expecting a snap election, Tory frontbenchers took to the lectern at the party conference in Blackpool armed with a series of policy initiatives. Most appeared to confirm a clear rightwards shift - including promises from David Davis, Shadow Home Secretary, for immigration limits, zero-tolerance policing and the scrapping of an early release scheme for prisoners.

There was also a surprisingly bitter personal attack on Gordon Brown for his pursuit of "photo opportunities" in Iraq, delivered by Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary.

The Prime Minister arrived in Baghdad this morning on a trip kept secret for security reasons and told reporters in the Iraqi capital that he expected to reduce UK troop numbers by 1,000 - 500 more than previously expected - by Christmas.

But in his keynote speech to the conference, Dr Fox joined in a chorus of criticism of the Government's treatment of the Armed Forces and took Mr Brown to task for his failure to address the issue in his Labour conference speech in Bournemouth last week.

He said: "You, Prime Minister, in your self-indulgent, plagiarised, 67-minute speech, how much did you dedicate to Iraq, Afghanistan and our Armed Forces? 126 words. 126 words. One word for every two servicemen or women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I hope you remember that when you are having your photo opportunities in Iraq today."

The bitterness of the attack appeared to reflect the widespread belief that Mr Brown is about to call a snap election to capitalise on recent opinion polls giving Labour a lead of up to 11 points.

Talk of an election, that could be called as early as next week, has forced the Conservatives to fast-track various policy reviews and use this week's conference to present the main planks of the party's manifesto.

That process started yesterday with well-received plans for substantial cuts to stamp duty and inheritance tax paid for by a levy on "non-dom" millionaires who live in the UK without paying tax on their offshore earnings.

The main pledge from Dr Fox today was that a future Conservative government would try to tackle Army "overstretch" by restoring three infantry battalions cut by Labour "as soon as possible after we have seen the MoD's books and identified the savings to pay for them".

Dr Fox was followed by the party's traditional conference favourite, William Hague, the former leader who is now Shadow Foreign Secretary.

In a deliberately businesslike speech, Mr Hague focused on the Government's refusal to allow a referendum on the EU's constitutional treaty despite its previous commitments. "The attempt to portray this treaty as fundamentally different from the EU constitution, when 240 of the 250 provisions are exactly the same, is one of the most bare-faced and deliberate misrepresentations in the modern annals of political deceit," he said.

Mr Hague said that a Conservative government "elected this autumn" would hold a referendum on any EU treaty that emerges from the current negotiations.

He added: "And I can tell you today that we will go further: the next Conservative government will amend the 1972 European Communities Act, so that if any future government agrees any treaty that transfers further competences from Britain to the EU a national referendum, before its ratification, would be required by law."

In an interview this morning with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Cameron said that he now expected the Prime Minister to call an early election. "Clearly we have to convince more people that we are the right alternative for this country. That is what this week is about," he said.

"I think we are having a good success this week and in an election campaign people will be able to judge: do we want another ten years of this government, that has basically wrecked the pensions system, made the tax system more complicated, seen violent and gun crime doubled, or do we want a real alternative?"

Mr Cameron's own speech to conference comes tomorrow and will be closely scrutinised for signs of whether the party has indeed retreated into its comfort zone after a two-year flirtation with modernisation.

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