Well, it looks like the Tories have been taken over by student Trots. Never mind putting the disestablishment pistol to the CofE's head over women bishops, and then just shrugging their shoulders and telling the churches to get stuffed over same-sex marriage: that could be principle, or could just be lugging some soft ones to the Lib Dems in the knowledge it's going to be a bloodbath in the Lords'. But the last week has seen: * Osborne announcing that the government's going to donate the VAT on the Hillsborough single back to the "Justice for the 96" campaign (contrast Thatcher and Band Aid, although I believe that was sorted out in the end), Cameron announcing that the government is going to fund the legal representation of all the families of the 96 and Grieve announcing new inquests for all of the 96; * Cameron announcing a fresh inquiry into the Battle of Orgreave * No backing down over police pension, pay and conditions * Assorted Tories getting ready to take the Met on, unambiguously, over Mitchell. Time was that Tory policy on the police was to pay them off and grant them immunity in exchange for bashing in the heads of union members. Now it looks like the Tories are seeing that the police (via both ACPO and the Fed) have been behaving like a private army and not one that the Tories either control or need, so are planning a front and centre assault on them. Labour didn't dare, for fear of being seen as "soft on crime", so allowed a culture of impunity to develop in which the police believed that they could write the law as they want it. I guess that perjury in support of an attempt to bring down a minister is taking that a bit far. But it is like the SWP are running Tory relations with the police. Fun times. Merry Christmas one and all. ian