Conservative u-turns

The Government is getting a bit of a reputation as the u-turn kings but i am undecided if a Government that states it is going to do something and then changes it mind after uproar from the public is such a bad thing.
Some people are arguing that it shows weak Government and is humiliating while others argue that it can't be a bad thing that the Government is listening and making changes accordingly.
The Conservatives do seem to have a problem with getting their message across, the Big Society idea has been relaunched so many times and still nobody really understand what it means.
The pause in NHS reforms, the change of heart regarding selling off the Forests and the reinstatement of the Employment Maintenance Allowance for college students are the big volte-face and i'm thankful that they did but i have a sneaky feeling that these were a case of losing a battle to win a war.
There is a political trick where if they want 1000 but they know it will cause outrage, they ask for 50,000 and then put up a small fight before agreeing to settle for 1000 so the public think they won by forcing the Government to backtrack and settle for remarkably less than they wanted while the politicians get the 1000 they wanted to start with and come out of the situation as having respected the voters wishes.
That's what i think is going to happen here either with the NHS which has always been a Tory target or some other major part of society that is yet to be unveiled.
The Conservatives are known as the nasty party for a reason, they are nasty and this lot are no different so when Dave Cameron announces he has listened to us and will review his decisions, i don't get the feeling that he is u-turning because he has taken on board the opposite view and came to another conclusion, it feels like he is trying to bank enough good credit, show that he is a caring and open enough guy so he can push through the bigger, ideologically more important things.
The other view is that his party have put so little thought into its big ideas that he is having to make with the reverse gear almost immediately when the defects in his policies are pointed out and that idea is not without its merits either.