I have some sympathy with those Conservative MPs who suddenly rediscovered their love of shopping, having been asked by their leader to vote for the government's authoritarian ID cards bill yesterday: another opportunity for the Tories to be labelled as inconsistent by Labour.
My own view is that, if anything, the Conservative leadership should have whipped its MPs against the government. By not doing this they have in effect given the Lib Dems a free reign in opposing the measures (though many of these "Liberals" do so simply on pragmatic grounds and not for reasons of principle). Still, even they have a problem on this issue with that arch negative influence for the Liberal Party, ex-leader David Steel.
Comments