The Tories’ greatest liability is the belief that they are against public spending

The battle of the slogans will now be joined and could still have a significant effect on the election result. We already know what Labour will say about the Tories’ new economic policy. ‘The Tories claim that they can increase spending and cut taxes. And pigs will fly.’ The Tories will counter this with something on the lines of: ‘Every time this government spends a pound, it wastes seven-and-a-half p. We’ll end the waste and use the savings sensibly.’ Or — next to a picture of Gordon Brown — ‘If you don’t stop him wasting your money, he’ll put up your taxes.’

In three-and-a-half months’ time, we will discover which version the voters believe, assuming that they do hear both. For this to happen, the Tories will have to be much more effective at projecting themselves than they have been for many years. They must employ the tactics Alastair Campbell, Peter Mandelson and Tony Blair used before 1997.