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So this week the phoney General Election war ends. Theresa May has managed to dodge all debate and repeat her mantra of “strong and stable” leadership until she’s Tory blue in the face.

But now we come down to substance, not soundbites. It’s time for the manifestos and policies.

May thinks she can get by on Brexit . That’s because she has nothing else to say.

On the day Labour offered a National Education Service with free learning from the cradle to the grave, May said she wants to bring back fox hunting.

And if the leaked Labour manifesto is anything to go by, people are going to have the clearest choice in 20 years between us and the Tories.

Taking the railways back into public ownership when the franchises lapse, a Crossrail for the North, scrapping tuition fees, more devolution and regional banks, along with better funding for social care, are all great policies.

There’s a long way to go but polls and interviews are starting to show these policies are proving to be popular. I think this could be the best Labour manifesto since our election victory in 1997.

But we have seen a regressive alliance between the right-wing media and the Tories.

When Ed Miliband proposed a price cap on energy prices, he was accused by Tories – and newspapers – of being a Marxist.

Theresa May nicks the idea and the same papers praise her.

When Gordon Brown suggested a levy on people’s estates to pay for social care, the Conservatives called it a “death tax”. Now May is considering introducing that too and the newspapers don’t bat an eyelid.

(Image: PA)

What’s equally disgraceful is journalists agreeing with Tory demands for reporters to be put in a separate room and only be allowed to ask May questions if they’ve been approved by her team.

That’s not a free press. That’s a herd of sheep.

Can you imagine the press reaction if Labour set those demands?

If the Tories win, the newspaper editors will no doubt be rewarded with a May Government quietly dropping the Leveson recommendation for papers to sign up to an independent regulator.

But May seems to be a follower of President Trump’s so-called “post- truth politics” where you say one thing then do the opposite.

She said there would be no General Election until 2020 and then ran to the polls because she thought her MPs would be charged with election fraud.

She promised as Home Secretary to get net immigration down to the “tens of thousands” yet it’s increased to over a third of a million. She said the NHS would be safe in her hands. It is now on the point of collapse and bankruptcy.

She voted against Labour’s minimum wage but now says she wants to increase it.

She believed competition and the private sector were the best formula for providing public services but now admits it has failed and the Government must intervene.

(Image: Ken Jack)

And on Brexit, she campaigned for Remain but is now pushing for the most brutal of Brexits that will hit jobs, businesses and your pay.

Why do you think she won’t debate with Corbyn or talk to real people? If she was a “strong and stable leader” she’d have no issue.

But deep down, May and her team know she’s not up to the job and is terrified of getting found out.

Tony Benn once said there were two kind of politicians – weather vanes and signposts. May and her Tories will move whichever way the wind’s blowing, wherever they think they can grab votes.

This week Jeremy, and Labour, have to set out a clear, solid direction for Britain. Let’s hope it does appeal to the many, not the few.