"The odds are that Labour’s (poll) advantage will be restored shortly. But that advantage will be maintained only if the Prime Minister and Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, neutralise the inheritance tax question."

So says Tim Hames in today's Times ('It's time for the last rights over inheritance tax').

It's difficult to disagree with him.

George Osbourne's pledge has certainly captured the voters' imagination far more than it should. As Hames goes on to points out, the impact of the policy would have been felt by very few people:

But Peter Preston in The Guardian agrees in (the slightly mis-titled) 'Care in the afterlife'

It seems then that the inheritance tax debate has now opened. The treasury's reaction to it will perhaps be the most lasting outcome of this conference season's political shenanigans.