THE election date has not been announced but the campaigning is at full throttle.

Tony Blair is refusing to back off from his attack on the Tories for allegedly planning £35bn "cuts" in public spending, despite being accused of misrepresenting the figures and peddling "a complete lie" by politicial commentators as well as the Tories.

One of the more negative labels the Government has acquired during its time in office is its reputation for spin and the distortion of figures and information.

A more accurate description of Tory plans would be a slower rate of increased spending rather than a "cut", but let's not allow the truth to get in the way of an election campaign.

The Tories, meanwhile, have been accused of doing their own lying over the claim that a Labour third term will mean tax increases. It is simply not true, insists Gordon Brown.

Haven't these squabbling politicians realised that no-one takes any notice of the statistics and promises they come up with any more because trust has ebbed away?

The result is that voters are being turned off before the election starting pistol has even been fired.

Politicians of all parties - please take note.