Lord Mandelson has called for the Labour Party to pitch itself as the "change-makers" of British politics. Delivering a Progress speech about Labour's spending and political strategy, the business secretary talked of "fighting back" and "exposing" the risks of Tory economic policies.

But when you look past Mandelson's slick Tory-baiting, what is he actually proposing that the government does? He starts by warning that the Labour Party is still the "underdog in politics". That seems like a pretty big admission. But it isn't new. Mandelson made this bold statement before the summer recess.

Next, he outlines the "three pillars" to take Britain out of the economic downturn. These can be summarised as maintaining government spending, investing in future economic growth and being responsible with the fiscal deficit. Great, but not exactly ground-breaking either. I expect that if Cameron or Clegg were sitting in the audience, they might have found it hard to strongly oppose Mandelson's cautious economic policy.

But where is the juicy thrust of his political strategy? With the approaching shadow of the general election, Labour needs to do more than lash out at the Conservative Party. After all, a decent "fight" involves some defensive moves as well as a few punches.

In total, the business secretary mentions the words 'Tory', 'Conservative' and 'Cameron' 16 times. In a speech billed to be about his party's political strategy, I got very little Labour from Mandelson.