Are the Tories about to emulate Disraeli's famous dishing of the Whigs 150 years ago, when they did a spectacular U-turn and backed the extending of the franchise after decades of supporting rotten boroughs?
Rumours are circulating that David Cameron, who lists Disraeli as one of his heroes, is examining with George Osborne a spectacular foray into Labour's core vote by backing huge tax concessions and higher pay for the lowest paid workers in the country.
The hint came yesterday with the publication in a series of newspaper advertisements sponsored by Liberal Democrat donor Anthony Jacobs, who is backing a huge change in the taxation system aimed at taking 10 million of the lowest paid taxpayers out of the system altogether.
Behind the scenes Jacobs has managed to get private meetings with the Treasury, Gordon Brown, George Osborne, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne to discuss his ideas.
The frostiest response has come from the Treasury and Brown. Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne have expressed enough interest to reverse at their conference their party's position on taxation to favour tax-cutting rather than ever higher taxes on the rich.
But the most interesting response has been from the Tories. George Osborne's well-funded office is understood to have decided to seek an independent costing of the plan.
They have also expressed particular interest in stage one of the plan which would take everyone earning less than £7,500 (compared to just over £6,000 now) out of the taxation system — some 2.8 million people.
The trouble is that this could cost some £20bn, which given the present state of government finances is very difficult.
Meanwhile, the research department at Tory HQ in Millbank are following another track, partly inspired by Boris Johnson's decision to implement a London living wage of £7.45 for all City Hall and Transport for London contracts.
The research department have been keen to get an adviser on the London living wage with the idea of seeing whether it could be extended to all government contracts, putting wages up from £5.52 to £7.45 at a stroke.
Whatever happens, the political idea behind this is to dent Labour's core support by a simple headline-grabbing initiative which turns traditional Tory policy on its head.
The Tories vehemently opposed Labour's minimum wage in 1997, and some councils like the Tory London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham still do. Just like Disraeli outwitted Gladstone, Cameron could outwit Brown. Remember you heard this first here.
