Michael Howard believes it is time to "move on" from the rows over Iraq which have seen him brand Tony Blair a liar.

The Conservative leader will continue to make the Prime Minister's character an issue in the run-up to polling day.

His party has unveiled a new poster featuring a grinning Mr Blair and urging voters to "wipe the smile off his face" on May 5.

But after bitter arguments about legal advice on the war they want to hear "something better" in the run-up to polling day, he said.

Mr Howard has faced fierce questioning over his insistence that war was justified even without weapons of mass destruction. The Tory leader says he would have secured backing for the invasion while admitting doubts over intelligence and the legality of war.

However, former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind and shadow cabinet member Andrew Lansley, who opposed the war, have again made it clear they did not think the conflict was legally justified.

Facing critics on TV last night, the Tory leader conceded his view is not "politically convenient".

He will now shift focus to his five election issues, setting out a "very specific time table" for implementing key policies on Monday.

Mr Howard began the election campaign warning that the PM would repeatedly urge voters to "move on" as a "get out of jail free card".

"Every time anyone hears Tony Blair say 'time to move on' they should sit up and listen hard," he said.

"It is a sure sign that there is something he doesn't want noticed, he doesn't want questioned, doesn't want probed."

However, that did not stop him using the phrase himself in a speech in Cardiff.

"We have had a week of Labour spinning, justifying the past, watching their own backs, not being straight," he said.

"The British people want to move on now from the debate of the last few days.

"Character is an important issue for them but now they want to hear about something better and that is our approach too.

"I say proudly that we the Conservatives are the ones who are consistently first to take a stand on the mainstream issues."

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said he was not surprised Mr Howard wanted to move on from Iraq.

Voters "certainly will not forget that the Conservatives were the principle cheerleaders for the war, did not ask critical questions and have now not got a leg to stand on", he said.