Silverfox ? some good points there. I thought New Labour?s first term was broadly where people wanted it to be when they elected it I hear quid?s point about the British people being fairly centrist but with a sense of fair play ? taking huge chunks out of waiting lists in the NHS, sorting out schoolrooms, introducing minimum wage ? exactly the sort of thing I wasn?t to see more of After that first term tho it all went fairly wrong ? Ed strikes me as more of that ambition rather than anything to do with the 70s As for union power ? I?m undecided. Part of me thinks that with jobs and money going to India and China, the role of unions will only become more important as it? unlikely the unregulated labour market over there can remain as it is today for much longer ? unions will get a foothold (and if you were one of those employees would you not want that).