Cameron in Egypt

On the whole, the early weeks of 2011 have not gone well for David Cameron. Mainly, the British prime minister has been bogged down in a defense of his so-called Big Society agenda ahead of his government's first big series of budget cuts, which will prove increasingly unpopular as they kick in. He has, however, created a raft of good headlines this morning by being the first world leader to visit Egypt since Hosni Mubarak was ousted as president 10 days ago.

Cameron's diplomatic coup is not entirely without risk; he could lend premature legitimacy to a military junta that may not introduce democratic reforms on a schedule that will placate the still-massing opposition forces in the country. But in the short term, it has to be said, Cameron has made a swift, strong and statesmanlike gesture that will serve him and his country well at home and abroad. The political subtext at home will rankle his own opposition forces: he is underscoring the exceptionally strong ties between his two Labour predecessors, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and the Mubarak regime, not to mention other teetering and nervous regimes in the region.