Gordon Brown underlined his promise of "a new type of politics" yesterday with the appointment of two Tory MPs and a Liberal Democrat to the ranks of government advisers.

In a speech designed to begin the reconnection of the public with both the political process and politicians, the Prime Minister argued that the challenges facing the world could not be solved by old politics.

He said: "I believe that Britain needs a new type of politics which embraces everyone in the nation, not just a few. A politics built on consensus, not division. A politics that draws on the widest range of talents and expertise, not the narrow circles of power."

With an audacious flourish, Mr Brown announced the appointment of John Bercow, Tory MP for Buckingham to lead a review of services for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs, and Patrick Mercer, Tory MP for Newark as a security adviser. Mr Mercer was recently sacked from the Tory front bench over remarks about Army racism.

Matthew Taylor, Liberal Democrat MP for Truro & St Austell, will advise on land use in support of sustainable rural communities.

In a speech in which he flagged up his intention to hold citizen juries around the country, Mr Brown revealed that the government was continuing to explore what more could be done to help parents regulate access to inappropriate material on the internet.

Later it emerged that the government, along with the industry and Ofcom, was working on "a kite mark" for internet filtering software, which will give parents the confidence that they have tools in their homes which will protect their children from harmful material.

Although the technical know-how is already available a spokesman for the industry told The Herald last night that when the kitemark was launched later this year it would make parents aware of its existence and will give an assurance that the software, as well as being easy to use, will do what it says.

The government is also working with the industry and Ofcom to find a common framework for labelling on the internet, videos, games and websites like Youtube without applying draconian censorship.

An industry spokesman said: "We think the answer is having the industry play a much more important role helping consumers know what they are going to see, and help parents protect their children against antisocial content."

Earlier in an interview on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Brown kept opposition parties guessing over his General Election intentions. With a poll in The Times showing Mr Brown's lead over the Tories narrowing, and yesterday's poll in The Independent putting Labour and the Tories neck and neck, the prospect of an early election, if it was ever likely, will have receded.

But as if an election was imminent, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, sent out a blistering rebuttal of the Tories ambitions yesterday.

Speaking in advance of Stephen Dorrell's policy group report on public services,to be published today, he said: "The Tories are becoming incoherent and increasingly desperate. George Osborne now claims he can increase spending on services, reduce taxes and cut borrowing at the same time. And he claims he will fill the black hole this would create by raising green taxes. But his sums don't add up.

"The Tories can't match Labour's spending when at the same time proposing billions of pounds of tax cuts, including cutting inheritance tax, the abolition or reduction of stamp duty on shares, the reduction of corporation tax, and the introduction of transferable tax allowances," he argued.