Guardian Unlimited Politics - The battle for Europe

What the papers are saying about the parties' prospects in Thursday's European, local and London elections The papers move on from the battle for Europe in 1944, which occupied them yesterday, to concentrate on the battle for Europe on Thursday. The Times is at the fore, claiming that voters will abandon the two big parties in the local and European elections this week, instead favouring what it calls 'fringe' parties - the Liberal Democrats, the UK Independence party and the Greens. The paper's poll puts Labour on 25-26% and the Tories on 24%, with the Lib Dems somewhere between 16% and 18%, and the UKIP almost doubling their 1999 showing from 7% to 13%. However, its leader says that 'a huge health warning has to be slapped on any prediction about the election'. It is confident, though, that the result will be 'anarchic'. Anarchy, to the Times, is anything other than a two-party system. The other true-blue papers concentrate on the electoral campaign, noting with interest that the prime minister's role has been somewhat understated. Three times in its front page report, the Telegraph wheels out a comment by Liam Fox that Mr Blair has been 'the invisible man'. The paper says he did not appear in last night's party political broadcast, and that his picture has been 'dropped from much of the campaign material in the regions'. The Sun says the PM has been 'Blairbrushed', and is now seen by Labour as an electoral liability.