The stench from New Year's Honours and why Labour is right to go on the attack.
At what point can Labour realistically urge people to forget about its own failings in the past when it goes on the attack against the current administration?
Clearly, Labour already believes that point in time has been and gone - for a good while now, it's been happy to attack the government while neglecting to remember their own actions when in office. The economy is a particular own goal for Labour in this respect, especially with Ed Balls as shadow chancellor. While he was never chancellor, there's no doubt he helped pull Labour's economic strings.
The Tories, on the other hand, will happily bounce any criticism from Labour straight back at them for as long as possible. Immigration, NHS spending and the perennial favourite 'tough on crime' are all good examples here.
However, where Labour can justifibly try and make hay in the winter sunshine is on an issue where the Tories vowed to behave differently to Labour during the election campaign - which brings us neatly on to the small matter of New Year Honours.
As we all remember, Labour, especially under Tony Blair, became mired in all sorts of rows around the honours system, not least in the allegation of rewarding large-scale donations with gongs. The Tories, in the general election, sought to remind people of this Labour indiscretion by promising to clean up politics.
So in awarding Paul Ruddock, a chap whose City firm cashed in on the collapse of Northern Rock by betting on its demise, with a knighthood yesterday, David Cameron has scored a major own goal. Alone, rewarding a man whose company's activities are generally reviled by many, was poor judgment on Cameron's part. The fact Ruddock has donated half a million pounds to the Conservatives makes the decision even more remarkable.
The stench of sleaze within New Labour stemmed from cash for honours. Cameron vowed to be different. He may well have done nothing wrong here, but as with many political scenarios, perception is just as important as reality.
There have been flimsy attempts from the coalition to deflect Labour criticism back towards the source by reminding Labour of its actions in office. Labour, however, can point to a new leadership compared to those in charge when Blair was at the helm, much more so than it can, say, over the economy.
In arguing that 'The Tories promised to be different', there is a tacit admission from Labour that they made errors in the past, but again, that's just what the majority think anyway.
Maybe, just maybe, for the first time, Labour is right to urge people to forget the past, saying it has moved on and learnt from its errors ... so why haven't the Tories?
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David Higgerson - David Higgerson has covered local and national politics for much of his career as a journalist. This blog aims to look at Westminister from the outside in, at a time when it appears very few are looking out from the inside.
