The first thing that happened was general derision for his notion of on-the-spot sanctions. This must have come as a shock after his years of trading on a populist airing of a reactionary law and order agenda. His populism, however, sought the restoration of traditional order, which did not and could not infuse a respect revolution in popular culture.
This helps explain the second reason his agenda foundered on Ruth Kelly's Calvary. The education secretary was engulfed last week by the controversy over her department's decision to allow people convicted or cautioned for sex offences against children to work in schools.
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