The prime minister's article in the Daily Telegraph on Monday this week, about bringing a bigger private sector role into public services, is a classic example of two-plus-two making whatever anyone wants it to be, six, 12 or 23.

The right of centre immediately welcomed David Cameron's comments as a code for backing wholesale privatisation, while unions and the left vowed to fight to the death this apparent commitment to returning to the days of Thatcherite compulsory competitive tendering.