A dozen or so Dartmoor Hill Ponies are huddled in small groups on the misty moor before us, with tails swishing, nostrils flaring gently and tangled manes blowing in the breeze. Several are dozing with heads nodding low, bodies still. Others fuss over each other, nibbling at their backs with strong»»»

Andy Burnham’s stint as health secretary in the final year of Gordon Brown’s government was not especially memorable, although one observation from a senior civil servant in the department at the time has stuck in my mind. Working for Burnham, I was told, felt like “revising for exams with a mate w»»»