The Tories deploy their strongest weapon, the prospect of five more years of Gordon Brown

If you had a fiver for every time a Tory speaker today has said ‘five more years of Gordon Brown’ you would soon be rich enough to start worrying about the 50p tax rate. All the speakers in the economy debate stressed how the country ‘cannot afford five more years of Gordon Brown.’

George Osborne talked about how the Tories had to win three battles—the battles over the past, the present and the future.  Ken Clarke, who looked like he has taken to visiting Boris Johnson’s barber, was charged both with boosting George Osborne and emphasising that ‘Brown played a major role in making this crisis worse than it needed to be.’ Clarke is the perfect person to deliver this message. He has the experience and the reputation for straight-talking that you need to make this message sound like more than just opposition politician criticises the Prime Minister.