Stephanie Flanders is not alone in treating these modern Tories with a degree of curiosity.

Let’s be clear: this is not the limit of the Conservatives’ ambition with respect to budget cuts. We may or may not get details of the rest of the squeeze this side of the general election – but you can bet there will be more to come.[...]

Labour says it’s too risky to cut while the economy is still weak – the Tories say that borrowing is too high to risk delay.

I’ve been surprised how willing the Conservatives have been to confront this argument head-on. [...]

The trouble, for the Tories, is that Labour have intuition on their side on this one. Most people assume, understandably, that lower public demand in the economy must mean slower growth overall.

The Tories are doing the sensible thing. Like most people in this country, they have realised that – scandal or catastrophe excepted – there is very little credible probability that they are going to lose the next election; they have been dominating the polls and the news cycles for too long for this to be anything other than a neatly-tied package. So they are making hay while the sun shines. They are in the enviable position of being able to run for election while not actually having to conceed anything to the electorate; and, when elected, they can claim a mandate for a cutting agenda.

They have a good lead; by resisting the urge to make it a landslide and instead fixating on preparing the ground for some of the unpopular changes they will need to make in government, they are showing a political maturity that is admirable. If only their policies were equally so…