David Maddox: As the sick old parliament finally expires, the fight to run the new one begins

FEW will mourn the passing of the old parliament as it breathed its last yesterday drawing a veil over the body riddled with corruption and sleaze.

Whatever else it will be remembered for, cash for access, cash for honours, dodgy party funding and expenses will always be the abiding memorial along with pictures of the police crawling over its precincts and MPs standing in court.

As MPs finished what was the last day of business before formal dissolution on Monday, even the weather in Westminster seemed to hint at a new beginning with bright sunshine spreading warmth and light on a perfect spring morning.

With the parliamentary body not quite cold the focus was on its successor as the two big parties launched their first press conferences of the election campaign.

Labour went first with its economic A-team – Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and Chancellor Alistair Darling – apparently keen to show that despite the weather there was still some room for gloomy clouds and cold hard facts, at least when it came to Tory tax policy. Maybe it is because they have fallen out with The Sun.

How are the Tories going to make savings of 27 billion, the equivalent of the defence budget, Mr Brown mused through gritted teeth.

The policy to reverse National Insurance (NI) contribution rises "lacks any credibility" intoned the Chancellor.

"A flimsy four-page document", added the PM. "Written on the back of the envelope". There were few political cliches left alone in this political fightback.

Why doesn't Sir Peter Gershon (the author of the four-page summary) give an interview? asked Lord Mandelson of his government's own former waste tsar.

Most of all, they wanted businessmen to know that they were still their friends despite having said they were deceived. That was until Lord Mandelson made a jibe about "metropolitan CEOs" not long before he mentioned "my friend Stuart Rose", the M&S chief executive who backs the Tory plans.

Mr Darling thought he could help. It is "inevitable" business will disagree with both of the main political parties from time to time, he suggested a little desperately.

"It was like three men in a boat," Tory leader David Cameron taunted afterwards, suggesting the political weather for them was a little less clement than the sun outside.