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A mood for change has allowed vast holes in Tory policy to go unexamined. It is in everyone's interest to turn up the lamplight

It's too early to say Tory policies are unravelling. But there are loose threads showing, and a bare patch or two. For months, Labour people have been complaining the opposition isn't put under the scrutiny it deserves as favourite to win, and that, close up, Team Cameron looks much less impressive.

First, the kerfuffle over marriage, over which Cameron admitted he had "messed up". You might have thought there was nothing easier for Tory strategists than devising a robust pro-marriage policy. For Conservatives to favour marriage is bland, comforting, apple-pie-and-custard politics, about as safe as...