Could the Tories have fired their big guns too early?

In one sense today is a great victory for the opposition parties. Normally this annual set-piece event provides the peg for acres and acres of coverage on what the government is doing with the Tories and the Lib Dems struggling to get a look in.

Well with the Green arrest likely to be dominating the headlines tonight that should be a minus point to Brown Central. But don’t underestimate them – particularly now that Peter Mandelson is in full flow developing the rhetoric and making the arguments that put the government’s position in the best possible light. His way of describing the “crime” this morning was very powerful.

My sense is that they’ve got something up their sleeves for this afternoon designed to draw the sting from the opposition attacks. That Harriet Harman meting yesterday would have come up with a plan and we should get a sense of what it is within the next hour or so.

If I was a Tory I’d be a touch concerned about the leadership being complacent. Labour knows it is under fire but is going to do everything it can to stay in the race.

What Brown & co need to do is bury this distraction and get the debate back to the economy. If that’s what the media is talking about at the weekend then they will have succeeded.

As usual our cartoon is by Marf of LondonSketchbook.com. She’s having a great week.

Mike Smithson