The government of Tony Blair just cannot help itself. It tries hard to do "the right thing" - to use a phrase indelibly soiled by association with Iraq - then does pretty much the opposite.

Thus, it tightens up on party funding and tries to democratise the honours system, then, in a cash-for-coronets circumvention, it steers around both by offering peerages to wealthy businessmen for donations disguised as loans. It incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, then seeks to deny terror suspects held at Belmarsh the right to a trial. It devolves power, to Scotland, Wales and London but attempts centrally to impose its own candidates. Now, another flagship of New Labour's liberal agenda is in danger of going down, illiberally, with all hands.