You’ve got to hand it to the Conservatives. They may be pushing respectable issues with a barely-concealed undertone of fearmongering, but when it comes to delivering a crisp message, they’re naturals. Their manifesto is regarded with some disdain by the Guardian regulars (though it is given a neutral appraisal elsewhere). But I’ve got to admire the handwritten slogans – both in presentation and content. They look like personal issues. They’ve been boiled down to the basics (with all the nutritional value removed). And as for the manifesto itself, it looks clean, and who wants to read a dense policy document in these dumbed down days?

In the tradition of all the best demagogues, they’ve cut to the heart of our prejudices with elegant directness, and unfortunately that’s not the kind of thing that can be easily erased with reference to reality.