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For a government in trouble there are few better solutions than a period of enforced inaction. Easter recess is upon us. And for a beleaguered administration in Westminster it cannot come soon enough. For it is a common feature of a parliamentary recess that the popularity of a government tends to rise when absent from the stage.

There is an important lesson for the Cameron coalition – and indeed all administrations: incessant activism does not guarantee popularity, and bursts of headline-chasing initiatives to get out of a hole can have the opposite effect to that intended. Certainly, the coalition has been struggling to get out of a number of holes: cutting tax for the rich; “Granny-gate”; “pastie-gate”; security intrusion. It has sought cover in diversion. Across...