The Government has performed more U-turns over the last 48 hours than a learner driver in a supermarket car park on a Sunday afternoon.
First, it was Alan Johnson’s scrapping of ID cards. Then, yesterday, the First Secretary of State and Lord President of the Council announced that the partial privatisation of Royal Mail would not, after all, be proceeding.
Now, at last, the Prime Minister has admitted that there will have to be cuts under a Labour Government. Given his prodigious gyrations when confronted by David Cameron over the issue at PMQs over the last few weeks, this is a remarkable development.
One might be tempted to conclude that the Government is trying to clear the decks of embarrassing baggage in contemplation of an earlier general election than generally anticipated, but that, I suspect, would be to credit this administration with more strategic coherence than it actually possesses.
