One difference between Margaret Thatcher and Gordon Brown is that famously Margaret Thatcher did not believe in U-turns.

BBC: NEWS | UK | UK Politics | David Davis speech in full

It might not be a feud to rival Heath vs Thatcher or Blair vs Brown but the row between Conservative MPs Nadine Dorries and Louise Mensch is in the tradition of great Westminster spats.

BBC: Dorries vs Mensch: Conservative MPs in Twitter spat

But they may be reassured that all four, under first Lady Thatcher and then Mr Blair and Mr Brown, went along with the reforms they now deplore.

ECONOMIST: Reform of the civil service