Light Blogging ...

Like the Pooter of Geek, I'm rebuilding a PC, so posting will be lightish. Meanwhile, cop this excellent Blimpish posting, on Blair's proposed reforms to incapacity benefit. It also applies in spades to immigration and to education. Talk tough - do nothing. And (over immigration/asylum) if you do try something the courts will overturn it. From the moment Frank Field went it was obvious that Labour weren't going to offend their client groups.

"Heard it all before, so we have - heard it all before.

Every now and then, the Government makes a rhetorical reconaissance-by-fire to keep the Tories tame and under control. It goes like this: Blair or one of his more loyal Secretaries of State will make an outrageously Daily Mail-seeking pronouncement. It will be outrageous because it's really not credible - either because plain bad policy or because the political cost makes implementation impossible - but the message will 'switch on' the less-engaged voters. The backtrack - even if explicit - is only picked up by the political obsessives, whose votes are already decided."