Day by day, week by week, the shape of the next election campaign becomes clearer. There is not much "new politics" about. Despite the talk of renewal and doing things differently, politicians operate in a political system and media culture we are pretty much stuck with. More openness about expenses and a more modern set of Commons rules are good things, but they are not a new dawn.

From Labour, we will see less central control, more power to the patient, more choice in education – all phrases we have heard before, all a bid to grasp the new politics. The trouble is, Labour can't let go of the old politics.

There is a new "gang of four" – the...