Gordon Brown’s speech

2:40pm: So far, Brown is trying to lay out a third way between equality of outcome and opportunity pitching New Labour as the party of aspiration and community.

Brown’s delivery is relaxed and confident and he is managing, just, not to talk in his trademark machine gun blasts.

2:45pm Brown talks about a 10 year plan for education and how every student leaving school at 18 will now have a qualification. Low-income pupils will be financed from 16 through to the end of their university degree. This, says Brown, will be a symbol of a society not divided by class but united by aspiration. Aspiration and talent are clearly the words of the day; carefully chosen, one imagines, to appeal to Middle Britain.

2:50pm Weakest part of the speech so far as Brown tries to implicitly attack Tory plans to reward marriage in the tax system. He quotes a Bible verse but it doesn’t come out quite right.

2:55pm Brown has clearly been told to make this personal.