But he stole my policies!

Ever since Blair first became Labour leader and a broad consensus developed between the main parties, we have continually heard the charge of "he stole my policies!" And the charge is, more often than not, correct - Labour are a bunch of thieving bastards, and not just when it comes to policy.

But when you think about it it says something quite telling about the mind sets of our politicians that they would complain when a government steals their policies. Sure, it means that they will lose a selling point that could help them win over the electorate. But on the plus side, they get their policies implemented by the government. You would have thought that was exactly what they would be looking for. Except it is not really about their ideologies. It is not about having their policies put into action, even if it is not by them. It is about them having the policies that are easy to sell, so they can win elections, and so they can get their grubby hands on power.

"Politicians: Power Hungry Bastards" is hardly an original observation, but it remains very true. But I long for the day when you hear Cameron or some other political leader bellyaching about their policies being stolen, and someone turns to him and says "so? Isn't having your policies implemented by the government precisely what you want?"