> They're still enamoured with neoliberal ideology, aren't they?
Pheh. I wouldn't credit them with anything as sophisticated as ideology. As far as I can see they're chiefly motivated by three things: a desire to maintain the system that they and their buddies did so well out of for a while, which means making someone else pay for the collapse; an almost pathetic yearning for the high regard of the G8/EU big boys, which they think they can earn by showing they've made "tough decisions" in the face of public opposition; and the influence of some really powerful, really nasty high-ranking civil servants who are determined to settle scores with the trade unions and who simply despise everything to do with the working classes.