‘I have nothing offer you except sweat, tax credits and child poverty targets’

I’ve never seen Gordon Brown smile for so long as he did throughout his speech today. Well-groomed, hair under control, red tip swapped for a blue one (shame about the media handling disaster) but he has raised his game. And here are his rules. There will be constitutional reform: a binding vote on going to war, a code of conduct for ministers and independent vetting of public appointments (no more Levys and Chris Evans). We heard again about the moral compass his parents gave him. A change of tack on foreign policy, emphasising economic development. Yes – same old, same old. In his Time interview, he warned he won’t dazzle us. But we’re in a new post-Blair era now. We’d better start getting used to it.

Update: Ben Brogan has the latest on who Brown will take to No10. He’s well-informed on such matters, and I for one will take his report as definitive.