The Tories are in deep trouble. Today on top of Graham Brady’s resignation comes the latest opinion poll by Communicate Research in The Independent . This confirms a slight fall in Tory support but a significant recovery in Labour’s share and a drop for the LibDems. The net result now falls into line with many other polls and gives the Tories only a 4% lead which would return Labour to power. . (Ignore the Cameron-Brown preference figure as nobody is asked to vote on that choice ! ) Now George Osborne is today billed as about to say that that the Tories are the true heirs to Blair when it comes to public service reform. It depends what you mean by “heirs” I suppose ! Blair was much given to high-flown rhetoric on the subject but completely failed to deliver any meaningful reform. The one crumb of comfort for Cameron is that his arm-twisting on the Telegraph appears to have worked. Today “Simon Heffer is away” they say ! Mmmm? And the leading article on schools shows a complete and shameless U-turn in their previous pronouncements. It ends - - "In the space of 18 months, he has revitalised the Conservative Party, giving it the confidence and élan it has lacked for a decade. For that transformation to deliver electoral victory (without which all policy wrangles become academic), he must show toughness under fire and stick to his guns. Mr Cameron has set his course against a return to grammar schools and for a broader approach to better schools: he must pursue it without flinching. If, in the course of doing so, some fall by the wayside, so be it. Mr Cameron needs to know who is with him and who is not.. He will soon find out" [note that ConservativeHome blog quoted that section WITHOUT the last underlined sentence! Odd!) I hope the Barclay Brothers who own the Telegraph have worked out that their immensely loyal readership will not be impressed by this at all! Christina Speight