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What can we deduce and adduce about the character of the work and pensions secretary from the news that he carelessly left confidential correspondence on a train? Not much, I would say. I don’t think there’s any cause for alarm, is there? The correspondence was, after all, only regarding the concerns of another MP’s constituents; those of mere voters. It would, in any case, be wrong to discuss this individual case in the age of governmental abstraction dictated by the demands of business leaders and political sociopathy.

We can, however, be surely safe in the knowledge that, should James Purnell find himself on a train with, say, the first draft of a dossier attempting to justify a war of aggression, or nomination papers for a future Labour leadership bid, or a directive from on high outlining measures required for the expansion of Rupert Murdoch’s business empire, his attitude towards the security of that information will be tighter than his grip on the throats of the undeserving poor.