THE TORY leadership did not want the issue of Europe high up the election agenda, since it would only highlight how disunited they are.

But now it is there thanks to John Major allowing droves of candidates to buck the official "wait and see" policy on the single currency.

Now one wonders why on earth have they let the focus dwell on it, and with a tactic that may well backfire?

Most interested voters wonder who is in charge of the Tory Party - the Prime Minister or the Euro-sceptics?

Yet, having invited that question, out comes their latest weapon - an advertisement depicting Labour leader Tony Blair as a tiny ventriloquist's dummy sitting on the knee of Germany's Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, under the slogan: 'Don't send a boy to do a man's job.'

But if this is intended to point to Mr Blair's lack of experience as an international statesman, might its European setting not also highlight how weak Mr Major is when he cannot control his own party?

Apart from that flaw, this newspaper advertising campaign once again drags the campaign down to the level of personal insults.

Yet is not the real mistake about keeping the focus on Europe the fact that the voters are fed up with it.

It may be the most momentous issue to confront this country in the view of politicians, but, in this election campaign at least, it is not the top issue with ordinary people.

They reserve their concerns over it for a future referendum.

Right now, they are concerned with the issues that affect them directly - health, education, crime and the economy.

But they have had precious little debate over them in this campaign.

Rather, they have had a slanging match, filled with personal attacks.

No wonder so many find this election a huge turn-off.

With fewer than two weeks left to polling day, it is high time the parties got down to the nitti-gritti and not poster slanging matches which are no better than graffiti.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.