The problem is that polarisation means protecting the left flank is more important, as people are less likely to cross left to right then they are churn between parties on the left.

So, he’s adopting a tactic that was sensible 20 years ago but completely inappropriate now - and doing it v badly.

The Tories cosplaying Thatcher is embarrassing, but she was at least their most successful leader ever, and on their own side.

Why on earth would Labour want to cosplay Sunak-era Tories?

That makes sense! Thank you! I’ve been desperately trying to find some hint of rationality and this does at least make sense.

Can you now explain legitimising Farage and Tommy Robinson and pushing Labour voters to the Greens?

When Blair pushed Labour to places it didn’t want to go on public service reform, it was accompanied with money, was patently what he genuinely believed and there was a credible argument that he might be right - at least electorally.

What are Labour MPs getting from this?

I just cannot find a credible moral or political logic. I found Corbyn infuriating in the way he refused to compromise with reality when political necessity required the opposite to moral preferences. But in this case, the morally right thing is also the politically right thing.

Everyone is expecting Labour to put up income tax and improve public services. It’s what Labour governments do. So if they don’t, they disappoint people - regardless of what they put in the manifesto.

Brand perceptions are much stronger than one short campaign.

Absolutely! This is the thing I have found most surreal about the last year. Having watched the Tories implode, Labour’s reaction has been to copy precisely the same strategy. Who looked at the dying days of the Sunak government and thought “That is it! That is exactly how we want to be!“

Your rationale was sound but after the breakfast budget speech I had started to entertain hopes you might just be wrong…

The weird thing about "who did the briefings?" as a news story is that normally when someone's at the centre of the news and wants to be anonymous, journalists dig on behalf of the public to try to identify them. But in this situation, the journalists already know precisely who they are, so can't.

Yeah, I think I get the distinction.

Bollocks. And I didn’t spot that when editing.

Tell me more. Intrigued.

But the front cover of the manifesto was a single word "Change"

It would have been a perfectly valid election pitch. So would 'change'. But you can't do both!

Given that the election pitch was Change, they now need to act like a Government determined to drive change.

Given that the last Govt engineered a bond crisis, it feels like it should be possible.

It’s both that less than 18 months in Downing Street are effectively saying they have lost confidence of colleagues, while briefing against a cabinet minister responsible for the area their voters really care about (which just looks to public like more of last years of Tories)