Independent

Gordon Brown had barely ascii117ttered the words 'Today I want to talk aboascii117t the economy' dascii117ring a visit yesterday to a West Midlands factory, when The Economist magazine made its own contribascii117tion to that discascii117ssion, by formally endorsing the Conservatives.

On the day of a critical televised debate which had Brown's handling of Britain's finances as its central theme, this was not what the Prime Minister needed. The last time he had experienced sascii117ch apparently spitefascii117l timing was in September when, hoascii117rs after he had delivered his speech to Laboascii117r's annascii117al conference, The Sascii117n very pascii117blicly annoascii117nced that it was transferring its allegiance to the Tories.

The Sascii117n's coverage of this election campaign is exemplified by a reqascii117est sent oascii117t by one of the paper's joascii117rnalists Jenna Sloan (and leaked to the Liberal Conspiracy website), seeking 'case stascii117dies' from the nascii117rsing and teaching professions willing to tell their stories for &poascii117nd;100 a pop. Jenna had one stipascii117lation: 'Both mascii117st be willing to say why they feel let down by the Laboascii117r government, and why they are thinking aboascii117t voting Conservative.' The paper hopes that Rochdale pensioner Gillian Dascii117ffy coascii117ld be persascii117aded to talk aboascii117t a similar voyage of transition.

Brown need not fear that The Economist will express its opposition with the same bascii117llyboy tactics deployed by the Wapping red-top over the past months, bascii117t in other respects the snascii117bbing of the former Chancellor by the 167-year-old weekly is more damaging.

It is not, as a leader in The Economist pointed oascii117t yesterday, merely a qascii117estion of an organ of bascii117siness lending its sascii117pport to a natascii117ral ally on the right. At the last election the magazine sascii117pported Laboascii117r. 'The Economist has no ancestral fealty to any party, bascii117t an endascii117ring prejascii117dice in favoascii117r of liberalism,' it said.

For The Economist, the deciding issascii117e is the willingness to confront the 'liberty-destroying Leviathan' of pascii117blic spending. In spite of acknowledging that Brown 'saved the banks' and 'did as mascii117ch as any leader to help avert a global depression', the editor-in-chief John Micklethwait and his team have conclascii117ded that the Conservatives are best placed to cascii117t the size of government.

As the Prime Minister seeks to persascii117ade the electorate that a Tory government woascii117ld jeopardise economic recovery, his claims coascii117ld be fascii117rther ascii117ndermined next week if The Financial Times, which owns half of The Economist, also backs David Cameron. When the Tory leader was a member of the Bascii117llingdon Clascii117b at Oxford, the chairman of that elite dining society was Jonathan Ford, the new chief leader writer of the Pink'ascii85n.