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. Superficially, it is hard to see why. Mr Brown has, after all, pledged he will stick to the Blairite agenda which the TUC so despises. Hasn’t he?

The closer one studies the detail of Mr Brown’s proposals in the last few days, the clearer the unionists’ cause for celebration becomes. While providing spectacular entertainment, from Tory defections to the scrapping of the Manchester supercasino, he has been silently and systematically working his way through Tony Blair’s public service reforms and stealthily undermining each one. His work has been technical, as understated as one of his Budget footnotes — but no less deadly. The result is a significant shift in government policy.

To understand what the Prime Minister is up to, we must go back to the root of his conflict with Tony Blair.