Whilst political journalists and commentators of every hue enjoy pouring over the entrails of the weekend’s dramatic political developments, this Tuesday Topic looks at just one specialist aspect of the story. Leaving aside the merits of the case for changing Personal Independence Payments to disabled people, was the consultation leading to the Government’s recent announcement properly conducted?

Was this, as the ex Secretary of State argued in his resignation letter and then on the Andrew Marr programme, a problem caused by the Treasury’s insistence on welfare cuts? Or did the blame for this debacle lie in his own Department for running a flawed consultation? Are there lessons in this tale that can help other Government departments, or indeed the rest of us?

First, let us acknowledge that the DWP is not a novice in public consultations; in 2015 it launched 18, according to its website. These will all have been bound by the 2012 Consultation  Principles, which was only replaced by the new revised set in January 2016, as this particular exercise was about to close. Neither can it be surprised at the demanding standards the High Court expects of public consultations; it has experience of many Judicial Reviews including previous ones on the Independent Living Fund.