New Labour loses old values

It seems that New Labour have begun to shrug off the last shackles of socialist ideology in Stephen Byers' announcement that the party's connections with the unions should be 'modernised', as he euphemistically put it.

Although the unions have for a long time played dead for New Labour, it seems they're not going to be 'playing' the part for long. New Labour doesn't want a "small, unrepresentative number of people" to affect Labour's policy making.

There is some hypocrisy here. Whilst the unions are being put out into the cold, New Labour welcomes the fat cats and consultants into it's loving tendrils.