At this special time of year, let's spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves.

Specifically, let's all give thanks that we aren't spending Advent systematically destroying nine perfectly good aeroplanes we spent several years of our lives building, in the certain knowledge that we'll be looking for a job in the New Year.

Thanks, Coalition!

This blog's been a bit quiet recently, while the coalition has been at its least stable and least principled. Apologies for that.

One thing that's emerged from the month of protest we've just seen is that the strangely disconnected quality that haunts the coalition is still here. Just as with bus lanes or free schools, they are swimming far above the seabed of administrative and political realities.

Hardly world-shattering news - who'd'a'thunk that rank and file Liberal Democrats might be quite liberal and pro-democracy? Not Nick Clegg, oddly, for whom the fact that his own party has voted to support itself is being characterised as something of a warning shot.

Toby Young can't take a hint - in fact I doubt he'd take a hint if you tattooed it onto his cranium with a meat-axe, so the long war against Teh Stupid continues.  Foremost in the fight are the Local Schools Network, who have been going through the admissions process:

Now, many more cowardly commentators might fall into the trap of not using an argument based on human rights legislation on the basis that it is commonly held in the UK that 'uman rights are the root cause of crime, social breakdown, childhood obesity and Ordinarydecentbritons not being able to call wogs wogs any more, and what is the world coming to?  Well, bollocks to that, here's a little something for IDS to chew on with his morning cornflakes: