Simply tinkering at the edges?

The Conservative leader studied economics at university and was political advisor to Norman Lamont during the last major economic downturn. He will now know that this will not be an economic plan that takes him into government, if he gets there, and that the Tories will have to be thinking about what on earth they would actually do if they inherited an economy that was growing very slowly or worse still in actual recession.

says Nick Robinson as he previews David Cameron's speech to the CBI in which he will make the first of his forays into the world of economics since those days with Norman Lamont.

His hands ,of course, are to a large extent tied.He has committed the party to following the government's spending plans,the state of public borrowing is unlikely to be better in two years and as we are told again and again,many of the problems are outside of the government's control.

What he served up to the CBI was a tinkering around the edges,the fuel stabiliser,which will surely in this era of rising oil prices simply lead to less government revenue.

The Chapter 11 proposals which give a firm a period of grace whilst in dire straits often postpones the inevitable and in an affront to Tory policy goes against the mechanics of the free market.As do his plans to stimulate first time buyers in the housing market.

As for the reform of the job market,I do applaud the move but as with the current government,one wonders whether the task will be too great.