Lib-Dem New Labour Party, with leader Paddy Ashdown acting as Blair's friendly warm-up man. Then came the main act, the New Labour Party itself, whose conference was the sort of slick performance you would expect from the star of the seaside show. Finally came the Tory New Labour Party, with William Hague doing his impression of Tony Blair, and Michael Portillo trying to sound like Peter Mandelson. Hague's fumbling attempt to distance himself from the 'dinosaurs' and blue-rinse brigade of the Tory Party membership, and to speak instead to the new elite in the Blairite language of compassion and 'inclusiveness', paid a big compliment to the way in which the People's Prince has redrawn the political and moral map.

One consequence of the post-Diana mood in politics is thatAnd by calling for people to unite in the new Dianaesque spirit of 'a giving age', Blair can get a standing ovation for demanding sacrifices in living standards of a kind which, 20 years ago, got the last Labour chancellor booed at his own party conference.

The long-term trend for political power in Britain to shift from parliament to the cabinet has now taken on a new dimension, as Blair increasingly bypasses the established electoral-political process altogether in favour of running things with a few hand-picked courtiers, even allowing Ashdown of the Liberal Democrats and possibly a Tory like Ken Clarke access to his inner circle.

Yet despite the autocratic fashion in which the Blair regime is pushing through its measures, the prime minister has avoided being held responsible for