Cameron's Waterloo.

The editor would like to apologise for all the historical allusions of late, but finds that he cannot help himself given the Tory antics over NHS reform bill. So for all those who can stomach a bit more, here goes. When Wellington faced Napoleon for the first time across the battlefield at Waterloo, the British general was curious to see what clever tactic the French Emperor would adopt to counter the carefully prepared British defensive stance. Expecting some complicated move on the flanks, Wellington was disappointed in the extreme when Napoleon sent his forces straight down the middle in a full-frontal and, ultimately, suicidal attack. "The man's just a damned pounder after all," Wellington muttered. Cameron, Britian's own Napoleon, with Andrew Lansley at his side standing in for Marshall Ney, has looked at the NHS battleground, noted the impregnable defences of the opposition, and decided to make one more full-frontal attack of his own. Oh well, I suppose an easy victory over a man with no tactical stance at all is better than no victory at all. But, given the bloodletting that has been inflicted on the hapless NHS by this idiotic government, there is another quote from Wellington that is worth considering. "The only thing in war that is worse than a bloody defeat is a bloody victory."