Labour brings out the big guns for its first press conference

The big guns out at Labour’s press conference – the PM, Peter Mandelson and Alistair Darling – trying to rubbish the £12bn the Tories said last week they could cut to fund, inter alia, a reining in of the planned national insurance rise.

It comes a little late and after days of assault from big name business people.

Labour is accusing the Tories of double counting some of their own £15bn savings which the Tories say they’ve banked.

Peter Mandelson also goaded Sir Peter Gershon, once the government’s favourite cutter, now the Tories’ cutter of first choice, to come out of hiding.

Peter Mandelson may have gifted the Tories with his earlier use of the term “deceived” to describe business people but he is also living up to his billing as a lighter presence on the platform joking about the Prime Minister being free to travel with his happily married spouse and winking at journalists after a cheeky question about Charlie Whelan’s Commons pass.

Gordon Brown is still in the relatively calmer mood we saw in interviews yesterday. Aides say he retreated into his office for 10 minutes after seeing the Queen on Tuesday and has been in this place ever since.

They deny any suggestions of yoga, US imported advisers’ techniques, meditation or anything else.