Boris Johnson plays for time with a cautious, tepid manifesto

Prime minister pins his hope on 'getting Brexit done' while not scoring any own goals

Take no chances. Make no mistakes. Maintain strict message discipline. Like a football team two up with 20 minutes to play, the Conservatives think the only way they can lose the election is if they throw it away.

The contrast between the manifesto launched by Boris Johnson and Labour's last week was marked. Behind in the polls and with only three weeks to go before election day, Jeremy Corbyn has gambled that voters are ready for radicalism. In sporting terms, he has thrown on three strikers as subs and sent his centre half up from the back in the hope of getting back in the game.