I would say it is a government to the left of Thatcher and well to the right of Ted Heath's. It may be pretty galling for a socialist, Fionn, but I really can imagine things being a lot worse. A lot of the civil rights which have been lost (protection from security service abuse, the right not to register your address etc) may well have gone forever, but I really shudder to think what further rights will go when the next Tory government takes power.
   I should not really be in this debate, as I don't live in your country any more. However, if I was, I would see the best prospect of change as that of entering the Labour Party and trying to change that from the inside. It can be done. It is not so long ago that the prospect of another Labour government looked most unlikely.
   The only other realistic alternative to the current regime is a very right wing Tory government. A lot of people who want to pull the plug on this lot are the same ones who deserted Jim Callaghan in 1979. Look where that got us!