The Conservatives yesterday hit back in the advertising war with Labour by unveiling its latest campaign poster - a fist adorned with a knuckle duster and the word "tax".

William Hague said that the poster was "nothing to do with John Prescott", a reference to the deputy PM's skirmish with a protester in Rhyl two weeks ago, but was designed to highlight the effect of Labour's tax policies.

The poster launch came a day after Labour's ad showing William Hague in Margaret Thatcher's hair, earrings and pink lipstick.

Hague laughed off Labour's poster yesterday. "It would be nice to have all that hair," he said. "I was not so sure about her earrings".