Politics | 21 July 2007

Beneath the dynamic surface, Brown is dismantling Blair’s public service reforms

When ministerial limousines line Great Smith Street in Westminster it is normally a sign that the Cinnamon Club is doing brisk trade. This upmarket Indian restaurant has become so popular with MPs that it has wired up a division bell in its foyer to tell them when to vote. But last Wednesday evening the attraction lay in the building opposite, where the Trades Unions Congress was holding its summer reception. Inside, newly promoted ministers and unionists were gladhanding each other like old friends.

Gordon Brown was, naturally, the star attraction. The Prime Minister delighted his hosts by promising that he would next time bring with him ‘Comrade Digby Jones’ — the ex-director of the Confederation of British Industry who is now a Labour trade minister. The tension between the unions and New Labour, a hallmark of the Blair years, seemed to have entirely dissipated.