CCHQ’s opposition research operation really should have spotted this and used it to rebut Labour’s demented attack on the Housing Benefit “final solution” (© Polly). LibDem blogger Peter Black highlights this manifesto commitment

‘Housing Benefit will be reformed so we do not subsidise people to live in private sector accommodation on rents working families couldn’t afford’

Eminently reasonable in policy terms, £20,000 a year in rent is of course way beyond what the majority of us can afford. The quote is taken from the Labour Party manifesto, written by one Ed Miliband…

James Purnell when he was at the DWP said he wanted to ensure “people on benefits do not end up getting subsidies for rents that those who work could never afford”. Last week Ed piously called on LibDems to block the implementation of a policy he advocated in the Labour Party manifesto, claiming, “That is not what they came into politics for. I hope they will vote with their consciences.”

The barefaced hypocrisy is breathtaking.

UPDATE : Tim Montgomerie scolds Guido for missing that the Tory Press Office tweeted the Miliband quote on Friday and Sayeeda used it later on Any Questions. Nevertheless Guido contends that if CCHQ had been on the ball it would have been deployed at PMQs which is where it was really needed.