Family values

The other day, the Prime Minister was casting about, saying: "We need two or three eye-catching initiatives that are entirely conventional in terms of their attitude to the family."

The other day, the Prime Minister was casting about, saying: "We need two or three eye-catching initiatives that are entirely conventional in terms of their attitude to the family."

No greater sense of duty hath any man than the Chancellor, who yesterday provided just what the boss had ordered. Eye-catching, family values, conventional. He only fell down on one part of the brief. Tony Blair's leaked "touchstone issues" memo specifically insisted: "I should be personally associated with as much of this as possible." What a pity the Prime Minister was detained by some important papers which were not quite straight on his desk and was unable to join the happy couple in Gordon Brown's back garden.