An order or a description?

The hours before David Cameron’s speech have been filled by a row about the pre-briefed line that:

“The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That means households – all of us – paying off the credit card and store card bills.”

This was taken by several papers as the Prime Minister instructing people to pay off their credit cards bill now, something that would have reduced the prospects for growth even further. So, the line has now been changed to show that Cameron is just describing what’s going on. It is all mildly embarrassing.

But this little flurry can’t disguise the fact that this conference has largely gone to plan for the leadership. It has been as uneventful as they wanted it to be.