LONDON BRIEFING / CHRIS JOHNS: Many of us who voted for New Labour in both of the last two general elections have come to hold Tony and his cronies in something approaching contempt.
But our old sympathies sometimes come bubbling back to the surface, particularly when the pack of rottweilers who masquerade as journalists decide to take on the prime minister's family.
Tony Blair must be regretting his decision to recommend a ban on blood sports. Fleet Street seems to have taken the decision personally. But sympathy for the Blairs does not run too deep. New Labour's initial instinct when faced with any issue is to "spin" and manipulation of the media runs obvious risks. And Cherie's flaky behaviour does invite mockery - but not the full-on attacks of the gutter press.
The government actually did a couple of sensible things over the past week, both in seemingly arcane areas but of potentially seismic significance.
As always with these sorts of affairs, what they did was far less interesting than Cheriegate but far more important.
First, they came clean - the first government of any major country to do so - about pensions. They admitted the money wasn't there to pay what most people seemed to expect.
There are two problems here, the main one being that life expectancy is lengthening and the other that pension expectations were too high anyway. Few people understand pensions and even fewer care - at least until retirement looms, by which time it is too late to do anything meaningful.
But there is a vague sense that if we can hang on in there until we get within spitting distance of 65, we will be OK. This was fine when most of us snuffed it by the time we reached 75, but most 65-year-olds can now expect to live until 85. This alters the arithmetic completely and the pension edifice comes crumbling down. As a matter of fact, it wasn't that stable to begin with.
Two-thirds final salary schemes, popular in Ireland as well, are post-war constructs designed for the middle classes in general and civil servants in particular. As I said, this is an arcane area.
New Labour, as ever, has spun this issue out of all recognition. But even it cannot disguise the central conclusion. Having identified the problem, the solution is obvious and, unless you are over 50, extremely uncontroversial.
Compulsory retirement at 65 has to go. People should work until they want to retire - and when, from a pension point of view, they can afford to do so.
Despite all the confusing spin, this was the message and legislation to this effect will, eventually, follow. And, on this issue, where Britain leads everyone else will have to fall into line. That's what arithmetic does for you. Look forward to a happy, active and employed old age. Early retirement will strictly be for millionaires and civil servants only.
The second interesting policy initiative was the backing of early negotiations for Turkey's entry into the EU. This, perhaps, signalled that Blair was finally getting to grips with the essential nature of the European project and knew what to do if the federalists and EU-supremacists were to be seen off.
Margaret Thatcher always used to say that Britain was at "the heart of Europe". She obviously didn't have a clue, as, strictly (historically) speaking, Europe's centre is in a suburb of Warsaw. The tears of the Polish Finance Minister in Copenhagen were not just in grateful recognition of forthcoming EU subsidies - he understands the historical and cultural imperatives. So do the Germans and this is what concerns Blair. To prevent Germany, and therefore Europe, moving eastwards towards its historical home, non-European countries like Turkey have to be admitted to the club.
All very complex stuff and Tony has hitherto shown few signs of being remotely interested. So it is nice to see some "joined-up thinking" on Europe. Blair wants Britain to become a European country. That must mean that he cares about what Europe is likely to become. Germany's long slide into economic decline may or may not be repeated by other countries. It will partly depend on whether or not the European economy matters to its rulers. And that depends on who is in charge. Gerhard Schröder and his electorate seem to regard a no-growth economy with Japanese-style indifference.
Of course, cynics might argue that Tony's pro-Turkey stance has much more to do with forthcoming conflict with Iraq and the need for military facilities in Turkey. But it is the season of goodwill and I will not attribute such malign motives to our beleaguered prime minister.
Chris Johns is chief strategist at ABN AMRO Securities, London
All opinions expressed are entirely personal.
