Likewise, Conservative PR hacks like Lord Bell note the body of opinion which, according to a Sunday poll, would support further haulier blockades. Affecting merely clinical interest, on Breakfast with Frost, he can barely conceal a foaming excitement at the prospect. From a party viewpoint he may be right. The Tories look with keenest anticipation on the possible breakdown of Britain. But this only makes clearer the course the government must take.
People expect it, above all else, to keep the country running.
The lures must be resisted. So must the threats and the bogus ridicule. Of the many false arguments made in defence of the hauliers, the most corrupt is the claim that, if trouble now happens, ministers are to blame for taking measures to anticipate it. If Blair wins this one, they're saying, he's got the election cold. Let us therefore do our best to see he doesn't.