THE biggest problem the Labour Government faces during the election is how it can overcome its image of being all spin and little substance.

This image is one of the main reasons why turnout is likely to be low on June 7: the public are so suspicious of spin that they are unlikely to endorse a party that they feel uncomfortable about.

Labour is standing on its record of lower class sizes, low unemployment, low inflation and low mortgages. But its also standing on its image of spin which has led to it being held in low esteem.

Yesterday's manifesto was a case in point. Manifestos are supposed to enthuse and inspire. They are supposed to show the way to a brighter, better future.

But we had heard practically every facet of yesterday's manifesto before. Many have already been triple or even quadruple announced. The money for health, education, transport and the police has been known about for months, and we've heard so much about the ten-year plans that it feels as if we should be halfway through them by now.

So with nothing new to enthuse and inspire, it is little wonder that as many as 30 per cent will stay at home on June 7.

Yet apathy on polling day should not suggest that people do not care about the state of their public services. Yesterday, an ordinary person managed to break in to Mr Blair's secure bubble and proceeded to tell him with great force about her partner's experience of the National Health Service.

And if you live by spin, you must also die by spin. Mr Blair was wearing a microphone so that reporters hundreds of yards away could hear him exchange supportive platitudes with specially placed guests. But when reality intruded in the form of Sharron Storer, every word of the confrontation was relayed to reporters who have become tired of stage-managed events.

Naturally, it will make today's headlines.

Both John Burton, his sound agent in Sedgefield, and Peter Mandelson, his erstwhile friend in Hartlepool, have urged Mr Blair to cut out the spin and just be natural and meet ordinary people.

It is to be hoped that the advice has not come too late to save the current campaign from disappearing up its own ennui.