Could it be a game-changer for Labour?

There was an emergency statement by David Cameron at the Tory conference this morning in which he sought to look statesmanlike and ensure that his party cannot be portrayed by Labour as opponents of tighter regulation.

It will also mean that he gets onto the bulletins during what will be a highly charged day.

The key point was an an announcement that the party would be withdrawing its objection to aspects of a bill before the house at the moment in an effort to get it onto the statute books quickly.

The political challenge is that the crisis presents a platform on which Brown can perform and where, in the public’s eyes, he has credibility. Cameron was careful not to go against the grain of that perception which I think was a key motive for the move.

Whatever the spread markets on the number of seats the parties will get at the next election have not responded in the manner you would expect to the recent polling developments. In fact in the past 24 hours Sporting Index has upped the Tory level by two seats at the expense of Labour.

Mike Smithson