Labour now thinks it is safe to reject the Tory narrative on the economy

Labour has returned to a bit more of an even keel in the past few wintry weeks after a torrid autumn. Plotters are resigned to letting Ed Miliband fight the General Election on his terms, and given the closeness of the two parties in the opinion polls, most are concluding that a disorganised Labour party could still throw the General Election away. Of course, everyone’s still anxious, but that’s not limited to Labour. When all MPs in both parties are anxiously looking at the opinion polls every day, it’s clear that no-one’s very confident.

Miliband’s team have been trying to reassure nervy MPs by pointing out, quite obviously, that this election isn’t like the others. Naturally it’s not like 1997 where one party has the Big Mo and even a theme song. But aides have also been trying to convince MPs that the reason they are nervous is that this doesn’t feel like 2010 even though there is plenty of action still going on.