And Now a Social Mobility Tsar?

Tory/Lib-Dem coaliton looking more and more like Labour

British Prime Minister David Cameron is a man with a problem.

A recent poll has the majority of Britons rating his government's performance as disappointing. In all, 57% of respondants are disappointed in Cameron's government.

Only 23% of Britons seem to think that Britain is better off with a coalition government.

The fair question may be: how could Britain be better off under the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition when it seems so much like Labour?

Case in point: Cameron's government has added to its stable of policy-advisory Tsars with the addition of former Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn, who will serve as Cameron's social mobility Tsar.

It's important to remember that Cameron's government was expected to be different from its predecessor. While Britain still waits to find out how deep cuts to public services will be, Cameron continually subjects the populace to the parading of these Tsars.

No one would argue that the coalition shouldn't be concerned with social mobility. But the introduction of a policy Tsar is a clear indication of the means they are leading towards: less toward free markets and more toward state action.

This certainly isn't what British conservatives expected when they cast their ballot in favour of the Tories.

The problem seems to be even worse for Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats, who have seen their share of popular support cut from 23% on election day to only 16% now.

In the same poll, the Tories' own share of public support has dropped from 29% from 36% on May 5.

For the Lib-Dems, the matter is simple: their supporters are set to revolt against them for their role in the coming cuts. For the Tories, this drop in support comes from having disappointed their supportrs and -- to date -- governing too much like Labour.

Their fortunes may change as budget cuts are implimented -- but won't expand beyond their own base if they target such programs as milk for pre-schoolers.

In other words, Cameron's government is suffering because they have not yet governed like conservatives -- except on issues on which they cannot prevail.