The Conservatives’ election manifesto, widely seen at Westminster as the policy platform of the next government, is still evolving. Policies are being drip fed to the public, with some key issues left unresolved.

There are political reasons for this approach – the Tories want to keep some voter-friendly pledges in reserve until nearer the election and to avoid giving Labour a chance to copy ideas. But there is also an economic reason. The party argues that the rapidly deteriorating state of public finances makes it impossible to commit to levels of overall tax and spending until much closer to the election.