Rather than exult in the problems of the Tories, Keir cuts an awkward figure

With panic-buying at petrol stations and soaring energy prices, this could have been the Labour leader's moment to shine

Fair to say the Labour party conference hadn't got off to the start Keir Starmer had hoped for. First, his 12,000-word See me, feel me, touch me" appeal to the nation had been widely ignored. Which many of us who had made the mistake of reading it thought was much the best response. Anything to escape the repetition, the platitudes and the cliches. It wasn't so much The Road Ahead" that was off-putting as The Page Ahead".

Then there had been the party infighting, all of which had been totally avoidable. The Tories had teed up the Labour shindig in Brighton perfectly. First, rising energy prices and the cost of living. Then there had been the government bailing out a fertiliser manufacturer to protect the nation's supply of carbon dioxide, just when it was telling the rest of the world to reduce its CO₂ emissions. Best of all, there had been Grant Shapps urging the public not to panic-buy petrol and diesel. Predictably, most garage forecourts were now running on fumes as people have long since learned to do the opposite of everything the transport secretary says.