Tin-eared, blockheaded: Theresa May’s party is laying waste to its own voters | Aditya Chakrabortty

Tory policies have concentrated power and wealth in a few hands. No wonder the party's supporters now look to Labour

Believe the pundits, and the remedy for the Conservatives is simple. They need a new leader. Some new faces around the cabinet table.Some flashy new policies. And, everyone agrees, they need to stop flicking V-signs at business. But nothing too radical. An oil change, a spray job, and they'll be motoring again.

Political wisdom is often little more than sonorous simple-mindedness, and this is a prime example. Judging by Philip Hammond's speech to the Tory faithful on Monday, the chancellor doesn't buy it, either. Humming through his lines was an anxiety about the threat posed by Jeremy Corbyn. Whatever their press releases say, cabinet ministers are stumbling through the Tory conference in Birmingham worried that Labour's arguments about Britain's broken economy are hitting home. And with good reason.

Related: Welfare spending for UK's poorest shrinks by 37bn

Related: Is Theresa May's plan for a festival of Brexit just an appalling sop to the DUP? | Andrew Adonis

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