Eye-catching ideas can confound Corbyn

THE starting gates have barely opened on the race to replace Theresa May, but some runners have already stumbled awkwardly.

Most conspicuously, Michael Gove’s confession in this newspaper that he snorted cocaine in his younger days has dominated the agenda. Whatever the impact to his campaign, the Environment secretary should surely be saluted for his candour.

But beyond the issue of what candidates did or didn’t do long before entering politics, those vying for the Tory crown have some commendably eye-catching ideas.

Take Health secretary Matt Hancock. As he tells the Mail today, he plans to end the injustice of elderly people who have worked hard all their lives having to sell their homes to pay for care. Grasping the nettle, he would ask people to pay premiums to cover costs.

Mr Gove wants to replace VAT – cutting the cost of living. And sam Gyimah has promised to slash deeply unpopular stamp duty, scrapping it for homes under £1million.

It’s not before time. After recent election hammerings, the Tories must start saying something coherent about voters’ traditional concerns – the economy, justice and education. The latest proposals are a keen reminder of Britain’s paralysis since Brexit… with all other important issues sucked into a policy black hole.

Contrast these bold initiatives with Jeremy Corbyn’s mob and their rancid hard-Left blueprint: Punishing levies on middle- class homes, a crippling raid on pension pots and a four-day week.

Truly, the Labour leader and his circle exhale the stale breath of state socialism with every word they utter.

Whoever emerges victorious, the next Tory leader needs vision, optimism and a radical manifesto to obliterate the gloom – and prevent a government of Marxist throwbacks reducing the country to rack and ruin.