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Can somebody please give Ken and Boris a shove?

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The candidates are still taking a suspiciously casual approach to the campaign

Twenty-four days to go, and there seems to be something wrong with the candidates for the London mayoral election - they just won't fight each other. The prize of a top city to play with and a GBP11 billion budget ought to be a succulent enough reward to tempt them from their corners and start windmilling, but no. In keeping with the becalmed feeling of the whole thing, prices have barely shifted. Boris is [1.51] on Betfair to win, Ken [2.88].

For the time being they seem content to steer clear of policy debate and conventional campaigning, and are putting their faith in each other's ability to self-destruct.

Has there ever been a less wise electoral strategy, though, this idea that "If I stand very still, no one can fail to see what a fool the other guy is?" This sort of anti-campaigning only leads to people trying to calculate which candidate they like least, in the absence of anything positive to bite on.

As Marina Hyde wrote in the Guardian on Saturday, "So viscerally impossible is it to adore either that in recent weeks I have heard people at various points on the political spectrum say something along the lines of: "I'm voting Boris, because I can't wait to see that git Ken lose, and I can't wait to see that git Boris cock it up."

And on the shortage of policy: "Then again, let us not be too dismissive on the ideas front. Let us not forget the bus obsession. Bendy or Routemaster? Double- or single-decker? For great stretches of this campaign, the two candidates have appeared to be fighting for bus shapes."

The candidates did temporarily stir over the weekend, Boris to call for an amnesty for illegal immigrants, an idea that caused Tory leader David Cameron to start walking very quickly away from his candidate.

Mayor Livingstone this morning dipped a toe in the waters of controversy by reminding voters of his intention to cut the speed limit on residential streets to 20mph, as a strategy to cut road deaths. Ken has announced this initiative before, though.

Meanwhile a sign has emerged that Labour are at last beginning to take Mr Johnson seriously - ministers have been banned from referring to him as "Boris" because this just bolsters his popularity with voters, say the pseudo-scientists at Labour HQ. Tessa Jowell has ordered ministers to refer to him by his full name, or "the Tory candidate." Those who disobey will be fined five quid. Good Lord, people, is that really the best you can do?