Thank goodness someone has had the courage to say this! And how great the media frenzy would have been if the Channel 4 revelations about the funding sources of the Tory Party had been about the Labour PArty instead. But the Tories seem to have got off scot free. Bias - or what?

George, York, UK

Alice Miles- You have certainly delivered the best post Tory conference analysis to date. The fourth estate is as inadequate as the first. A sence of mutual self regard pervades both estates by virtue of their access to the stage. The audience will ultimately judge the performance.

Tim Hall, Birmingham, West Midlands

Anything, but anything is better than the "experienced" (sic) GB who managed to squander 10 years growth into debt. Alcoholics would get treatment so lets give the spendaholic GB the "fire him now" treatment.

Richard, London,

The media is predominantly left wing in this country, underpinned by the BBC which openly promotes left wing politics, so called man made global warming, multi culturalism, PC, Christianophobia etc. If Cameron gets a decent hearing it is because he is decent. A far cry from the sleaze and the lies.

Neil, Glos, UK

Perhaps the world is now too complex for politicians, or anyone, to handle. Perhaps there are no 'right' solutions. Perhaps we no longer allow the unintentional mistakes of the past, for example all the WWII errors Churchill and others made in a great cause. Perhaps we want something we can't have!

Paul Freeman, London, England

All this nonsense about 'toffs' is so much based on the politics of envy that it has nothing to offer the 21st century. The real difference is that the 'toffs' had a privileged education, far superior to that offered in all but a handful of state schools and the pseudo universities they fill.

Manfred, Cardiff, UK

Exactly. When Blair & Co were the New Thing, the media sucked up to them in the same uncriticial way. In the media world, people are either shining geniuses or complete fools. "They're good at this, but not as good at that" just doesn't make a story or a headline.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

You do nothing in politics unless you win elections. You knew by their grins in '96 that Labour were going to pig in the parliament trough. They have been so busy bribing voter groups with tax breaks to stay there, that they have neglected to govern for all our futures. The Tories are no different.

Mike, Exeter, UK

Does this mean the media will be doing the same disservice to the population under the Tories as it has been under Labour for the last 10 + years . Fed up with the political agendas of journalists ... try having the same rules for all for a change and stop crying foul when your team isn't winning .

Benzo, Nr Chelmsford,

All very well Alice, but perhaps you would like to explain just what Gordon Brown offered in his speech last week? Nursery places for 2 year olds and free internet for some families. Great! Other than that, just ever more Government borrowing until we are submerged under a sea of debt!

Richard, Worcester, England

Gordon Brown has the power to act but can only tell us that he will do "whatever it takes" and take "whatever measures are necessary".

Such as?

Tom, Huddersfield, UK

Can someone please explain the difference between the Tory proposals for secondary schools and the Academies springing up all around me in Hackney, for example? Is it just me? What am I missing?

Simon Ward, London, UK

Neil, Kuala Lumpur - you are absolutely correct. It's the bloated public sector, with hundreds of quangos, thousands of jobsworths and index-linked final salary pensions where substantial savings can be made. No need to cut front line services - just cut the bureaucracy and non-jobs!

Stuart Yates, Inverurie, Scotland

It is good to read, what I consider to be a true appraisal of the Cameron speech. I have found in recect times that journalists regard themselves as the vanguard of the 'new middle class', how refreshing to find an honest one.

David Chambers, Wirral, England

Thank you Alice - at last someone with the guts to point out that the media's emperor in waiting has no clothes on!

sarah Merry, Cardiff,

Mean while the chattering continues, so who actually cares about my beautiful country -- who are the eager ones who abandon ship when the going gets tough, some are on these columns I see. Wise up all of you, this is bigger than government!!

Maggie Snook, Wareham, Dorset UK

So no change there, then. The grovelling media gave a decade of deference to Tony Blair, even though most others saw through him quite quickly.

In any case, New Labour has taxed us to such an incredible extent, a refocusing of the stealth taxes is overdue.

Ian Tinn, Slough, England

Sorry, I meant to say 'a refocusing of the stealth tax income is overdue.

Ian Tinn, Slough, England

Another class rant, when this country needs to get rid of all that dreary nonsense and choose from the best without fear or favour.

Inverted snobbery is just as bad as snobbery.

Peter, London,

And the press did nothing to get Tony Blair into No10, did it? How quickly we forget the carefully contrived photo opportunities, artful spin and media control that NuLab used in the 90s. The 4th estate invented the cult of empty celebrity, why blame the politicos for taking advantage.

KR, Stockport,

It's not even necessary to analyze Conservative policies and capabilities. All we have to do is assess the present government's policies and capabilities, then (when we have stopped laughing or screaming) choose any feasible alternative.

Tom Welsh, Basingstoke,

So many journalists seem to have such in-depth knowledge of Cameron - I think not! They just cannot accept Cameron is popular and DOES have substance. We should at least give him an opportunity to Govern, he certainly cannot do worse than the current disaster area we have called Ditherer Brown

R J Cook, Welwyn Garden City, England

" Labour is ahead on the NHS and on schools, "

By giving us filthy disease-ridden hospitals and politically correct schools producing illiterate savages? You must be joking.

Liz, London,

Alice Miles has already forgotten the teenage swooning of the media at Tony Blair's every trite soundbite before his star waned. The Tories could give speeches in an obscure Peruvian dialect and it would make no difference. Governments are voted out, not in, and it's Dave and his team's turn.

anne, bournemouth,

Bang on Alice. It's not just the newspapers that are giving the Tories an easy ride either. My seven year old Grandson has more attention span than these headline seeking know it all so called journalists. It's as if we wan't change but don't look too close at the alternative.

Dave Eastwood, Bideford, UK

What planet are you on woman?? The country's falling apart and you want Gordon in perpetuity? WHY??!*!%!

PUBLIC FINANCES: £70 BILLION O/D AND RISING. £100 BILLION OFF BALANCE SHEET TO BE PAID BY HM TAXPAYER
Rising Crime, endemic waste, family breakdown, rising unemployment And you want MORE??

William, Northampton, England

The media lost their collective critical faculty long ago.

You lot have had 11 years to probe Labour's appalling record. I suggest you read "Squandered: How Gordon Brown is wasting over one trillion pounds of our money" by David Craig.

Then by all means - please criticise both parties.

Jonathan Cook, Hampshire, UK

I don't especially want to praise the Tories, but if there a solution to the dilemma we are in do you not think they would have given it?

The truth is that the mess we are is due to 11 years of overspend, mismanagement and lack of rigorous control, it simply cannot be cured easily or qulickly

David, Hemel Hempstead, UK

Alice - "favours the well-informed middle classes"... Why exactly are only middle class parents "informed"? If I was dirt poor or filthy rich, I would still make time to walk by such a school / local gov office to find out what was happening. Loving my kids does not depend on cash or class. Crass

Jake, London, UK

Of course, policies are beside the point these days. The same people who sniggered at `Teflon Tony` (and rightly so) now give slick Dave the PR man a free pass. Dave is a great communicator; Brown isn't. The rest hardly matters. The biggest difference between them is image, not policies.

Xander Harris, Durham, UK

I haven't heard one politician speaking about investment in industry. Wasn't it industry that made the money to 'invest' in schools, hospitals, defence etc. All they talk about is managing the wealth either by reducing the costs and maybe taxes. But WHAT wealth? Where will it come from?Property??!?

Roger Corfield, Arusha, Tanzania

The bottom line with democracy is people get the politicians they deserve. With a choice between Brown and Cameron, you deserve very little. Glad I live in Australia, we have something you don't - a future.

Christopher H, Canberra, Australia

get a grip Honey, that's nothing compared to the grovelling the media does here in the USA for Obama.

Mary, Pittsburgh, USA

How to pay for it?

Kill off half the quangos in the country and a good percentage of an overbloated civil service - oh, and their pensions!

That would be a start.

Neil, Kuala Lumpur,

Hah! Is this woman for real? Media in the tank for the Tories? The Guardian, Independent, Mirror and - worst of all - the BBC (with all other broadcast media), have been viscerally and vehemently anti-Tory for ages. It's not even a secret, although the BBC does sometimes play the "impartiality" card

JohnW, Manchester, UK

Lets not knock this article it seems an honest conclusion to come to however cynical. It also correctly raises the point about the REAL tories, and they are the elite; privately educated, toff connections, oxbridge acumen; they ARE however much more suitable than Labour to run the country!

Tom, Epsom,

It is said that political parties do not win elections, others lose them and Labour has done a good job of doing just this. Now the current mess has to be sorted out again by another party, probably the Tories, but be prepared for shocks.

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

As the Texans would say "if all you do is all you ever did, then all you get is all you ever got" . Britain need a change of leadership to put an to the New Labour con trick that has been performed thus far for over ten years. Cameron deserve a chance , if only for the lack of viable alternative.

Riyad Al-Alawi, London, England

Why are you so surprised and indignant? The art of opposition is getting elected. This is done by getting ahead in the polls by offending as few people as possible while goading everyone to take offence at the government [ i.e making the govenment the issue ] This is not likely to change.

James , Canberra, Australia.

Quit your delusions.

Labour's fresh alternatives? Ten years, and they still haven't produced the goods. Cameron is actually talking sense, unlike Labour's 'New Speak'...

David, Cambridge,

This article seems more like a Party Political Broadcast for the Labour Party than an intelligent read. I'm afraid, Ms Miles, that your views are now distinctly in the minority, so please stop trying to flog a dead horse.

Jason Sutcliffe, Leeds, England