Our Glorious Achievement Must Be Radically Reformed

It appears to have dawned upon the Glorious Successor that even a man who is not Tony Blair cannot afford to go on like this. Accordingly, one of the few proto-authoritarian governments to manage the extraordinary feat of pissing off the public, the armed forces and the police in the space of a few months has promised a year of "real and serious changes". Gosh. Another one. Gordon has, as usual, pledged to press ahead, step up, reform majorly and long-termily, and meet challenges. The education leaving age will be raised to eighteen, which will cut another sliver off the teenage-hoodie-what'll-we-do-with-them class. GPs will be compelled to extend their opening hours, doubtless in return for adequate remuneration. Hospitals will be cleaned (gosh, again) pensions will be reformed (gosh, even more), the Union will be defended (gosh, fancy) and "tough decisions", namely the ones Gordon and a few other people want, will be made on the question of nuclear power. There will also be "measurable changes", if not necessarily beneficial ones, in public services. "For Britain, 2008 will be a year of real and serious changes," Gordon said. Gosh. Another one.