What is a 'reasonable' pace of change?  This is a more basic political question than it might appear. Classically it separates out the revolutionaries from the gradualists. After all, the literal origin of the Fabian movement lies exactly in its gradualism - but Fabians would still see gradual steps as a route to radical reform. On any given issue, there might be quite a lot of consensus on the direction of progress, but serious disagreement on how quickly things can happen (cf the Church of England's recent writhings on women bishops). As Carolyn Heilbron observed, reflecting on a different institution: “Women have legally transformed the marriage relation in under 150…