Over the last few weeks there have been lots of preparations for a possible election going on, including the manifesto, in conditions of great secrecy - so much so that I wasn’t even sure I should reveal the existence of Saturday’s meeting of the Federal Policy Committee to finalise it. But since I see a mass email referring to it has now come out from Chris Rennard, I guess I can do so (and I see that Alex Wilcock has reached the same conclusion, in an excellent and full analysis of the current situation).

Clearly I can’t say much about what’s in the manifesto but I will say that I thought Saturday’s was one of the best meetings of the FPC that I have been to in my six years’ involvement (and we meet every month). It was a good meeting and I think it is a very good document.

It did also make me reflect that our system of policy-making is also very helpful to it. The Tories have had to write their manifesto basically from a blank piece of paper, making various snap judgements on what to put it and what not - all of which seem likely to upset different groupings in the party who would have liked to see the decision go the other way. The most obvious incarnation of this has been what someone on the Today programme this morning called the “warring” policy groups, but there will be many other groupings too who will not like some of the judgement calls that Messrs Cameron and Osborne have made.

In contrast our ongoing policy conversation through Conference means that we know what we think in key areas - the party knows that it has made the decision and as a result is relatively comfortable with it going into the manifesto, even if individuals didn’t agree. This doesn’t stop us saying new things too, but it does mean that on major issues - like whether we really mean it on action to protect the environment, for example - we are way way ahead of the Conservatives.

While Mr Cameron is still trying to decide whether to take the advice or Messrs Gummer and Goldsmith (to take the environment relatively seriously), or of Mr Redwood (to not) - and knowing that whichever way he jumps large parts of his party will berate him for it - we have a detailed list of actual policies for doing it, which we have agreed together.

For all the criticisms that I and others have made of our policy process in the past, it was good to realise some of its real advantages!