Inside Politics: Boris Johnson’s manifesto pledges picked apart

Huge news: two of the most popular puppets in British history – Emu and Orville – are up for sale at auction. Any parallels with the most unpopular party mouthpieces of recent times, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn? I’ll let you work out which one resembles the obnoxious, chaos-causing emu, and which resembles the comically naïve, child-like duckling. Like stuffed birds on show, Johnson and Corbyn are trotting out the same old lines and tired routines on the campaign trail, but they do at least have manifestos to wave around at their audience. It means, however, their spending pledges can now be properly plucked apart. Feathers are sure to fly. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock on what to look out for on the campaign trail today:

After the release of the Conservative manifesto, much of the day will be preoccupied with going through the finer details of Boris Johnson’s plans to see if they actually hold up. Jeremy Corbyn is heading to the East Midlands to unveil plans for a private renters’ charter to give tenants more rights over landlords, including an annual inspection to ensure their homes meet safety and decency standards. The Lib Dems foreign affairs spokesman Chuka Umunna, meanwhile, will make a speech in Watford warning the UK will become “Trump’s poodle” if Johnson wins the 12 December election.

LION SLEEPS TONIGHT: The PM promised to “release the lion from its cage”. In truth, the Tory manifesto arrived with whimper rather than a roar. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the 59-page document (fleshed out with nice big pictures) was “remarkable” for its lack of ambition. Johnson pledged extra cash for childcare support and pothole fixing and ruled out increases in the rate of income tax, National Insurance and VAT. But if the “steady as she goes” manifesto was designed to keep the Tories on course and out of trouble, there’s one commitment already making waves. The PM promised 50,000 more nurses in England. The nice big number turns out to include 18,500 existing nurses the government has to persuade to remain in the NHS workforce. Labour dismissed the pledge as “fake” and “frankly deceitful”. One cabinet minister said: “If [the manifesto] is not being talked about by tomorrow evening that’s a good thing.” We’ll see.

STING IN THE TAIL: Labour is swaggering into the start of the week with a pledge to put bad landlords out of business using a new charter of renters’ rights and an annual “property MOT”. The tough talk comes as shadow chancellor John McDonnell made the faintly mafia-like claim the party would settle a “debt of honour” with the “WASPI” (Women Against State Pension Inequality). Labour admitted its promise to give payouts to the three million women born in the 1950s – screwed out of their pension at 60 by changes in retirement age – may cost as much £58bn. Can the opportunistic pledge be delivered? McDonnell only unveiled the policy after Johnson was challenged about it by a Question Time audience member, and after Labour’s own manifesto commitments were made. The IFS said that the offer drove “a cart and horses” through the party’s promise not to borrow more for day-to-day spending.

EFF OFFSHORE: The polls suggest Labour cannot afford for its manifesto to be quietly forgotten. There seems little danger of that, with the party’s bold plans being raked over by the energy giants. Fearful of Corbyn’s nationalisation agenda, National Grid has revealed it has opened offshore holding companies in Hong Kong and Luxembourg, while SSE confirmed it had done something similar in Switzerland. Some Labour folk are now moaning about the party’s election strategy – even more radical and even “more Jeremy” than in 2017. One Labour peer asked: “Is it brilliant or bats***?” Another Labour figure warned: “If they lose and lose badly, they will have no one else to blame.” Johnson, meanwhile, called Corbyn a “pinko” and ridiculed his pledge to remain “neutral” during a second Brexit referendum. “He used to be indecisive, now he’s not so sure,” the PM scoffed.

TIMOROUS BEASTS: If Conservative chiefs are pleased at how the campaign is now ticking along, it’s squeaky bum time for several “big beasts” in the Tory party. Seven leading Brexiteers have reason to be fearful of a “career-ending nightmare” in the early hours of 13 December, with Zac Goldsmith, Dominic Raab, Iain Duncan Smith most at risk of losing their seats. According to Datapraxis modelling, the potential for significant tactical voting among Labour and Lib Dem supporters puts the PM in danger of the ultimate “Portillo moment” on election night. The Datapraxis analysis does contains plenty of good news for Johnson, however, showing the Conservatives on course for a majority of 48. Six polls published over the weekend give the party an average advantage of 13 points over Labour – the same margin as the latest BMG poll for The Independent.

GETTING PERSONAL: Not such good poll numbers for the Lib Dems – flailing, somewhat, since the start of the campaign. Jo Swinson’s party will try to get back on track this week by reminding “soft Tories” what a dodgy geezer Boris Johnson is. Foreign affairs spokesperson Chuka Umunna is set to accuse the PM of trying to make the UK “President Trump’s poodle” and following the “Trump playbook” of populist, right-wing nationalism. Lib Dem candidates have reportedly been handed a 12-page dossier questioning the Tory leader’s “colourful” private life and most controversial statements, including those considered sexist, homophobic and Islamophobic. It seems nice guys are willing to turn nasty for some of those precious marginals.

“Anybody can write a wish list and say all of these wonderful things that people could have, but I think people generally know that you don’t get something for nothing.”

Jo Swinson attacks Labour’s pledge to compensate women hit by the pension age rise.

“Anyone seen Jacob Rees-Mogg recently?”

Writer and ex-BBC broadcaster Gavin Esler notes the cabinet minister’s absence from the Tory manifesto launch...

“I don’t understand why Jacob Rees Mogg hasn’t the common sense to escape the store cupboard they’ve locked him in.”

...while The Guardian’s Zoe Williams thinks he’s been kept out of sight because of recent Grenfell remarks.

Sean O’Grady, The Independent: The key seats that will decide the general election

Andrew Grice, The Independent: Boris Johnson knows he’s close to losing this election – that’s the real reason the Tory manifesto is so weak

Nicola Sturgeon, The Guardian: Why I’d never press the nuclear button

Charles M. Blow, The New York Times: For Trump, impeachment is a show