Howard raised the case of his constituent last week

In a tense Commons exchange, the prime minister said Mr Howard had got his facts wrong over claims a woman had to wait 20 months for cancer treatment.

The Tory leader countered that the woman had been told the wait was 20 months when it was in fact 20 weeks.

But he said the real waiting time was nothing for ministers to boast about.

'Out of touch'

As Mr Howard prepared to speak at prime minister's questions, Mr Blair said: "I hope he will apologise this week for running down the NHS last week on the wrong information."

In the Tory leader's constituency, waiting lists for out patients had fallen 81% for the East Kent NHS Trust and 76% at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, he said.

Mr Howard said his constituent had been given the wrong information but had still faced too long a wait.

"If the prime minister and the government benches think that a five month wait for treatment for someone with a life threatening illness is something to boast about, then they are even more out of touch with opinion in this country then anyone would have thought."

Mr Blair countered that he did not want anybody to have to wait but waiting lists were "tumbling" across the country.

Schools clash

With the Tories unveiling their plans for schools this week, the Commons clash saw Mr Blair and Mr Howard trade blows again on the future of public services.

The government's five-year plan for education will next week include expanding the network of city academies, confirmed Mr Blair.

He attacked Conservative plans to allow all schools to choose to select children by ability, saying: "That is not parents choosing schools. That is schools choosing parents."

Mr Blair said that where Mr Howard's "policies are coherent, they are reactionary and divisive and where they are not reactionary and divisive, they are incoherent".

The Tory leader said Labour was only adapting a Tory policy it had previously opposed with its plans for city technology academies.

People were interested in the quality of education delivered not the amount of money going in, he said, claming his party would raise standards by giving parents a choice of providers.