THERE are still four months to go and the election campaign is already heading down a well-worn path.

The Tories say Labour can't be trusted with public spending, while Labour says the Tories can't be trusted with the National Health Service.

Ed Miliband came out fighting yesterday to rubbish Conservative claims that £20.7bn of spending pledges by Labour don't add up.

And so the pantomime arguments – Oh yes, they do! Oh no, they don't! – will continue until May.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the political stage-show being performed, one North Yorkshire hospital was declaring a "major incident" in response to "unprecedented" demand for its services.

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has urged people to only attend the A&E department at Scarborough Hospital in an emergency, with some surgery having to be cancelled, and patients waiting for beds to become available.

It has been the mildest of winters so far and yet there is growing evidence that the health service is creaking under the pressure. How we fund the NHS is likely to become an increasingly important question as the election campaign unfolds – particularly if January and February bring freezing conditions.

In the end, all the main parties have a fundamental problem to overcome. None of them are really trusted and it is a sad indictment of modern politics that few people take party promises seriously anymore.

It is right that the political promises are analysed and challenged. But the election result will hinge on the impression that the characters at the sharp end of the election campaign leave with a desperately cynical electorate.