Just to confuse matters, the Tories have launched two very incongruous policies

With every policy launch during an election campaign, it is worth asking why a party has chosen that policy and why it is launching it on that particular day. This is generally because answering those questions helps you work out what message a party is trying to send and whether they are on the defensive or offensive. But today it is worth asking this question simply because it would be nice to get an answer: why have the Tories launched two completely unconnected policies which don’t sound very Toryish on the same day?

One of these policies is the freezing of rail fares, which begs the question, why did the Tories expend so much energy criticising Ed Miliband’s energy price freeze? The second policy sees the return of the Big Society, in the form of a requirement for employers of more than 250 people or who are in the public sector to provide three additional days’ paid leave for their staff to volunteer.