The election campaign starts here

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

The dividing lines are drawn. There are 200 days until the general election. And now, as MPs return to Parliament tomorrow, we are entering into a long, bitter election campaign.

Alastair Campbell says the Tories have “pretty much ended bipartisanship on foreign policy”; Yvette Cooper has said the Tories speak a good game when it comes to job creation, but “it’s not enough for them simply to say they care about these problems if they’re not prepared to invest in them”; and David Miliband has launched another broadside at the Tories for their “shameful” European group.

Meanwhile, Alan Johnson says there is “no possibility” of Gordon Brown stepping down on health grounds before the election. For better or worse, it seems, Gordon will lead us into the 2010 campaign chasing a 17 point deficit.

All this comes as the Telegraph leads with the story that over 300 MPs will be forced to pay back expenses or fully explain their claims as Christopher Kelly completes his investigation into the biggest democratic scandal in years.

As if there was ever any doubt, it’s clear it’s going to be a messy seven months.