When faced with difficult political decisions I always ask one question: WWKD? What would Ken do? No, not Ken Livingstone, though I have never met a better, shrewder operator on the left, but Ken Clarke. A man who came up with GP fundholding on a beach in Spain. A chancellor who called interest rates himself, no monetary policy committee for him. A health secretary who took his ministerial team for lunches at the late-lamented Pizzeria Castello in the Elephant and Castle. A minister who, civil servants say, always knew where to get a decent pint of beer after a meeting anywhere in the county. A man, as you may guess, after my own heart.

Let’s apply this test to the Pfizer bid for Astra-Zeneca. What would Ken do? He’d say: ‘It’s a British company. If you like it so much then move your HQ to Britain. Otherwise, no go, hands off … Oh, and mine’s a pint of Best.’ No hesitation, no deviation, no repetition. A quick decision.

Now look at the coalition. Desperately in need of proof positive that slashing taxes on businesses work, they are actively encouraging an intellectual property asset-stripper to scoop up a company that produces two per cent of all UK exports. This is something that Margaret Thatcher would have dismissed out of hand. It tells you how far from their conservative roots David Cameron and George Osborne have drifted that they regard Ed Miliband’s scepticism as quasi-Marxist. It tells you how deluded the Tory strategy is that the Daily Mail and Ed are united in backing Britain.

This is a toxic mess for the prime minister for two reasons. First, he has ceded economic patriotism to Labour. For no gain. There are no voters in the United Kingdom who are now saying – ‘Thank goodness we have a PM willing to sell any British business to any buyer. I was so worried we weren’t really open for business. Phew!’ Second, he leaves a huge space open for Ed. It is not ultra-leftist to say that some businesses are good citizens and others are boors, thugs and rack-renters. It is just common sense. The public get it. They say that big business are a bigger threat to the country than the unions. That scares me. We need successful, socially supported business. It should terrify Tories. But they just don’t care. Labour are rapidly becoming the only allies business have because they are supportive but critical friends.

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A crisis reveals. The Tories have been weakened by the Pfizer bid. More importantly for Labour a star has been born. Chuka Umunna has entered the front rank of British politicians. To get the top and to win you need more than a good mind and a pleasing manner. You need an analysis, your own politics and steel. All have been on display from Umunna in the last 10 days. I was on the Daily Politics last week to talk about my film about Machiavelli – unsurprisingly he’s my political hero. Umunna came on to discuss the Pfizer bid with Andrew Neil, who is the toughest interviewer in politics and Chuka had out-thought and out-researched  Neil. It was a heavyweight prize-fight and Chuka won by a knock-out. The danger when you’ve been in politics for a long tie is that in a maudlin way you start to feel – even believe – that the politicians of the past were giants that the current  generation cannot match. Well, the Board of Trade is one of the great offices of state that has had great leaders – Harold Wilson, Michael Heseltine, Peter Mandelson. Umunna is more than their match and as Labour supporters – and patriots – we should celebrate that fact.

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Finally, I know we all worry about the reputation of politics (our hobby and career) and politicians (our bosses and leaders) but here’s some good news and some bad news. The good news is that it has been ever thus. During the second world war – a battle to the death against genocidal fascists – only 36 per cent of voters thought the government was acting in the best interests of the country. Today’s 16 per cent doesn’t look so bad in comparison, does it? The bad news is that it was ever thus. At the National Theatre production of King Lear these lines jumped out at me: ‘like a scurvy politician, seem/To see the things thou dost not’. Four hundred years (and counting) of being a by-word for liar.

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John McTernan is former political secretary at 10 Downing Street and was director of communications for former prime minister of Australia Julia Gillard. He writes The Last Word column on Progress and tweets @johnmcternan

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Photo: Conservatives