It is a fairly radical departure, but the events of the last little while suggest the need for a radical departure. We have not come to the idea of state funding gladly.

If necessary, I would go out on the streets and beg rather than send them [his children] to the school next to where I live.

While there certainly does need to be an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Dr. Kelly's death, there are very large numbers of questions which all center on the issue of whether the public can trust what the government tells it and which relate to the information given to parliament and the public during the lead-up to war in Iraq.

Shifting to a different set of questions - and that is what we have done - is in itself an enormous sign of an intellectual shift. That we are asking questions about climate change, development and public services, rather than, crudely, tax cuts and immigration, shows we have changed.

Although the government has vast amounts of information at its disposal, ministers do not at present have timely access to the mission-critical information that would enable them to spot major systemic failures in the operations for which they are directly responsible.

It is alchemy in reverse: the golden rule has turned to dross in his hands