, < Regeneration, < New Start editorial index page While the walls of his empire crumble, while scandal sniggers in the tabloids, while unmasked enemies convene in broad daylight, prime minister Tony Blair performs that age-old yet graceless dance known as the cabinet shuffle. What happens is this. Ministers and MPs stand in a circle clapping and smiling while the prime minister, wielding a sword for general decapitation and beknighting duties, performs his disturbing routine. Cabinet ministers try to hide the panic in their eyes; the rest try to hide their desperation.