Undone by spin

John Kampfner has an excellent piece in the Standard today, linking the new 50% tax rate - seen by many as the death of New Labour - with New Labour's lust for power. Such a thing was until recently unthinkable because of New Labour's fear of upsetting the rich.

Why were they so frightened of just a little redistribution? When Peter Hain broached the subject of the wealthy paying just a little more tax, Brown's people tried to destroy him.
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The actions of Damian McBride and his like, ever smearing and scheming, are rooted not in personality disorders but in political logic. The reason New Labour has always acted in a thuggish manner is because it was founded on an absence of ideals. It was created by Blair and Brown, by Mandelson and Alastair Campbell, as a vehicle for gaining power.
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What is so frustrating is that those few MPs, and the odd minister, who do have strong principles and deep ambitions to change Britain felt forced to hide them. They began to look and sound like automatons in order to avoid ritual humiliation at the hands of the Prime Minister's henchmen for speaking out of turn.