Forget talk of Labour’s ‘tax bombshell’. It’s Tory policy that needs a watchful eye

‘The economy has been left a smouldering wreck by 14 years of Tory rule, with the car crash Liz Truss premiership only the tip of the iceberg.’ Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

The contours of the election campaign are becoming clear. Do the Conservatives deserve five more years of trying to improve Britain’s lot, despite the abject failure of the past 14? Can Labour under Keir Starmer be trusted to do better?

At the start of yet another crunch year in British politics, Rishi Sunak will be hoping the latter question resonates with voters, as the Tory election machine revs up to cast “Slippery Starmer” as an untrustworthy, high tax-and-spend Labour leader who would bankrupt Britain.