Blair's Heirs

Last week, at the height of the row over grammar schools, Lord Tebbit complained that the Tory Party had "rebranded itself as the party to implement New Labour policies more effectively". At the time, this appeared to be a criticism of David Cameron's rapid move to the left. However, it appears that Lord Tebbit was stating, not only the obvious effect of the Cameron project, but also its intention:

The Conservatives are the true "heirs to Blair" when it comes to reform of schools and hospitals, George Osborne will insist today.

In a provocative speech, the Shadow Chancellor will claim the Conservatives are more in favour of the Prime Minister's plans to give public service chiefs greater freedom to run their own affairs than Gordon Brown.

"This growing consensus between the current Prime Minister and the Conservative Party does not appear to include the next Prime Minister.

"And therein lies the political battle ahead," Mr Osborne will say.

So, to put it another way, the likely choice at the next election will be between more of what we've been getting for the last ten years, from Blair 2.0 (or "David Cameron" as he insists on calling himself), and Gordon Brown. Alas, the agony of choice!

And, as a matter of interest, how often can it have been the case that an opposition party has gone into elections presenting itself, and not the government, as the party that will preserve the status quo?