David Maddox: The trouble is that most of his problems seem to be self-inflicted

His speech could be summed up as: "I'm the one with experience, I'm the one with a plan, I'm the one who is sure-footed. You need me to get us out of this mess, not that shallow PR man running the Tories."

In an election that is going to centre on the personality and character of the leaders, this would seem a very good strategy – if only the person delivering the message was not so gaffe-prone.

Yesterday, Mr Brown showed us again that he is not the sure-footed leader he would like us to believe he is.

The failure to tell the Chilcot inquiry the truth over defence spending, accidental or not, was, in fact, far more than a gaffe and will do him and Labour serious damage.

It was also unnecessary because, with defence spending on a generally upward projection since his time in office, he could have successfully rejected claims of failing to fund the armed forces.

But now his opponents and critics in the form of former defence chiefs have all the evidence they need to back up claims that the Prime Minister is a "dissembler".

At best, he gives the impression of somebody struggling with the facts, the last thing he needed on another day when new indicators showed his economic strategy is faltering.

The European Commission's demand that he starts tackling debt was not as disturbing as the 54,000 jobs that disappeared from the economy in three months. Unemployment may have been down, but any cursory look at the facts showed this was because people had been farmed off into courses.

The disturbing aspect for Labour is that Mr Brown's problems are often self-inflicted. The case of the miswritten condolence letter perhaps sums it up.

So, every time Labour appear to be gaining ground in the polls, Mr Brown seems to do something that halts that momentum.

The Tories have opened up a nine-point gap again, and if Mr Brown does not get a grip, it could just get worse.