To be sure, New Labour was always pretty awful. I, for one, won’t mourn the passing of their “project.” But regarding the present situation, it should be noted that some of those now jumping ship already knew that once the local and European elections were over they were going to be pushed overboard for financial improprieties—using their parliamentary privileges to feather their own little nests. It should also be noted that those doing the jumping are Blairites who have been doing what they could to damage the Brownite faction of New Labour since long before Brown became Prime Minister. It would certainly be a positive outcome for Britain were it to transpire that they, the Blairites, had destroyed themselves politically while engaging in the sort of politics for which they, like their master, have long been noted.  Too bad, however, that Britain nowadays seems to be lacking any politicians of stature and integrity and that their political parties are either insignificant or else collections of mediocrities.