MICHAEL HOWARD denied that he was seeking to turn abortion into a major election issue yesterday as Labour moved swiftly to say they hoped that it would not become a party-political matter.

The Conservative leader said that he had only been giving a straight answer when he told Cosmopolitan Magazine that he thought the legal limit on abortions should be reduced from 24 to 20 weeks.

“I don’t decide what is an election issue, neither does Mr Blair. The British people will decide,” he said. “I did not make my comments in an interview with The Catholic Herald, I made them in an interview with Cosmopolitan.”

Labour said, however, that his offer of parliamentary time for a new abortion Bill if the Tories were to win the election suggested that he was trying to make political capital on the so-called wedge issue.

The Tories have imported the “wedge issue” tactic from the US Republicans, who ensured that George Bush campaigned hard on a succession of carefully selected fringe issues that small numbers of voters cared passionately about.

As well as securing their votes, the tactic was designed to present Mr Bush as a man of principle with a clear view on the moral issues of the day. Mr Howard’s advisers believe that the tactic will do the same for the Tory leader.

They were thrilled with the response of the Roman Catholic Church this week, when it immediately praised the Tory leader for taking a stand on abortion.

Labour closed ranks yesterday to say that an election was not the appropriate time to discuss the issue of abortion.

Tony Blair said: “It would be a pity if this did become a party-political issue, or indeed a general election issue, when that comes.”

In a sign of growing nervousness, however, it fielded Jane Kennedy, a junior employment minister and a committed Christian to answer questions on the subject.

She replaced at the last minute Patricia Hewitt, the Trade and Industry Secretary and a long-standing feminist, who had been due to represent Labour’s views.

Ms Kennedy said that major issues of conscience have always been handled very sensitively in Britain and that should continue.

“There will be some voters for whom this is an issue,” she said. “But voters from a Catholic tradition will equally be as concerned about the economy, about their household income, about global wealth and Third World economies.

“So I would be disappointed if it became a party-political issue and I think we should continue to deal with it as a matter of conscience in the way we have always done.”

Ms Kennedy said that she would have to hear some very convincing arguments to persuade her that the time limit should be reduced.

Labour strategists are aware that there are few votes to be won on this issue, but hope that Mr Howard’s tactics of raising it will backfire.

“There is a hard-won consensus on abortion in this country and I think most people are grateful for that, although obviously it is an extremely important issue for some voters,” one Labour source said.

Should abortion be an election issue? E-mail debate@thetimes.co.uk

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