Cameron's Goats
It is, in a way, unsurprising that the Labour Goats should join up with the Coalition: Blunkett (to help in the assault on welfare claimants), Field (to help attack the poor generally as "poverty Tsar"), Hutton (to review pensions), and Milburn (to help privatise the NHS). They have been attacked in fairly robust terms - most notably by the good Lord Prescott (who does have a point - these are people who owe a great deal in terms of their own career development to the Labour Party and a little loyalty might not go amiss). But the reality is that politically there is very little to choose between Blunkett/Hutton/Milburn/Field and Cameron/Clegg. Indeed, there are quite a few others who could just as easily have signed up to the Coalition: Byers, Hoon, Hewitt, Purnell - even Mandelson. What it really shows is how little choice the voters have been given over the last couple of decades. It brings to mind the old anarchist aphorism: "No matter who you vote for, the government gets in". One small point: as I understand it Blunkett and Field are still Labour MP's (and Hutton is a Labour peer). Shouldn't joining up with the Coalition be something that must be cleared with the Whips/party Leadership first? Shouldn't these three have the whip withdrawn? Not that they would care that much.