Michael Howard has launched a strong attack on waste in the public sector.

Addressing a British Chambers of Commerce conference, the Conservative leader criticised a public sector where "money is no object".

He said the government had created a "bureaucratic Britain".

However, the Sun's Trevor Kavanagh writes that the lack of an ovation for the Tory leader speaks volumes for Conservative chances on May 5.

"He might as well have been talking to a himself in a sound proof room," Kavanagh says.