The 'what would you do' question

Philip Stephens has some interesting comments in his column in the Financial Times. He notes, in relation to Dave Cameron, 'Hit and run politics is fine if you expect to stay in opposition. A government-in-waiting has to come up with a few answers.' As Norman Tebbit commented, the Conservatives cannot indefinitely avoid the 'what-would-you-do' question.

Stephens takes the example of the depreciation of the pound against the euro for which the Conservative Treasury team has been castigating Mr Brown. Would a Conservative government be telling the Bank of England to use its foreign currency reserves to push up the value of the pound? The last time this was attempted in 1992 hardly offers a good example.

I have just been handling a media call about tonight's vote on the 42-day rule. The indications are that Gordon Brown will win, just about. That would certainly give him a boost, although it wouldn't solve his problems.