Is Ashcroft’s money a reason for Brown to go early?

John Kampfner has a piece in The Guardian today urging caution on Labour and its supporters about the party’s electoral prospects because of the amount of resources Lord Ashcroft is pumping into the Tory’s target seats. Kampfner’s argument is that that the Tory money advantage combined with the fickle nature of the press means that come September Cameron’s fortunes will start to revive which suggests that an early poll is not the risk free exercise that some seem to think that it is.

Yet there is a case to be made that Ashcroft’s efforts are a reason for Labour to go early rather than spending the next 18 months trying to build up a war chest to match the Tories pound for pound. Once the campaign is formally under way the strict spending limits kick in and thus neutralise a lot of the Tory money advantage. I still don’t think that Brown will go early but the cash gap cuts both ways.