What the Tories excel at is defining themselves and their opponents, usually in the most dishonest way possible. That’s what Theresa May’s zombie-like repetition of the already infamous slogans designed by Lynton Crosby are all about. I’m not going to repeat them, because cynical Tory spinners calculate that mockery of the slogans is simply free advertising and drums them further into the heads of the electorate. Let it be said, though, that at least David Cameron could utter his lines with the pretence of naturalism. He wasn’t even that hammy: he should take up amateur dramatics. May just sounds like she’s repeating something she’s been told to say ad infinitum, which is exactly what she is doing.

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But Labour has an opportunity here to define its opponents. The grievance with the Tory campaign is that it is empty sloganising married to no substance. The Tories have nothing to say on the great domestic challenges facing Britain – from the economy to the NHS to tax to education. Labour can present substance with clear, repeated messages. Defining itself means presenting an optimistic vision of Britain: investing in the economy, realising the potential of the next generation, modernising our creaking infrastructure, dignity and security in retirement, money back in the pockets of workers, promoting the skilled jobs of the future, for the many and not the few, and so on.

As for defining the Tories, Labour has ample material. You can’t trust a word May says. Witness her broken promises on the early election, her untruth that parliament obstructed Brexit, her double U-turn on national insurance, her transformation from remainer to hardcore Brexiteer. Any pledge or promise she offers isn’t worth a thing. She’ll just go back on her word. We don’t know much about May, but what we do know is that any promise she makes can be broken. That way, any policy announcement she makes can be seen through this lens. That’s what the Tories do to Labour: because of the party’s failure for many years to defend its spending record in government, every Labour promise is seen through a prism of being spendthrift and wasteful.

Labour’s battery of attacks shouldn’t stop there. May plays party politics with the future of the country. She is taking voters for granted, and using them to play partisan games. She won’t debate her vision, both because she is too arrogant and because she doesn’t have one.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Theresa May with Jean-Claude Juncker. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA

Then there are the revelations about her meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker. The Tory press calculate this will play into May’s hands. Britain is – I think we have established – not exactly enamoured with Brussels, so any confrontation with a “Eurocrat” is a win for May, or so goes the narrative. There is a clear Labour line, though. The revelations prove that May’s team is delusional, chaotic, has no strategy, and has no grasp of details. Labour will offer a stable Brexit – not the risky Brexit of the Tories. Here, Labour’s ex-lawyer Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer is a reassuring presence – a man of details committed to establishing an exit deal that protects jobs, living standards and the economy, rather than chaotically crashing out. Given the Liberal Democrats’ currently faltering campaign, their failure to mop up disillusioned remain voters presents an opportunity for Labour.

Labour’s stance has to be this: we have an optimistic vision of what Britain can achieve. The Tories cannot be trusted, are duplicitous and are disrespecting the electorate by playing party political games. It’s time to go in for the kill.