There's an interesting story lurking around the bottom of the political pages (see 'Phil Collins bows out' in The Standard, 'Labour put on the path to tragedy, says Blair ally' in The Guardian and  'A tragedy is unfolding under Gordon Brown, says Labour adviser' in The Telegraph). Phil Collins, a speechwriter for James Purnell, has been told his services will no longer be required following an article he wrote for this month's Prospect magazine called 'Liberalise or die'.

The article contained two elements that might have been cause for dismissal.  Firstly, it was a little rude about Brown and his most loyal acolyte, Ed Balls.  Secondly, and more interestingly, it said that Labour needed to become more liberal.

"For New Labour to survive, it must become new liberal. The key dividing line in politics is no longer between left and right, but, increasingly, between liberal and authoritarian. The Labour government too often finds itself on the wrong side of this divide. One of the lessons Labour ought to have learned from 11 years in charge of the state is to be humble about the limits of that power. Another lesson is that the demands of individuals for more say in how public services are provided and delivered are growing stronger."

The article is quite succinct and well worth reading in full. 

It also makes an interesting companion piece to CentreForum's 'Lib-Lab' paper from October last year, which looked at the prospects of coperation between the two parties.  That concluded:

"Should Gordon Brown succeed in drawing the poison of the Iraq war from the British political debate, relations between the parties would inevitably improve.  If, at the same time, he was to display real leadership on the environment and a genuine willingness to disperse and decentralise power, the prospect of meaningful Lib Lab co-operation would again become real."

If Collins was dismissed because he was a little rude - the story doesn't mean much (apart from the fact that Labour can't take a joke at the moment).  If, however, he was dismissed because the people in Number 10 fundamentally disagree with the argument for decentralisation that Collins makes, the prospects for Lib Lab co-operation seem more remote now than they did last October.