I was asked recently 'but how will you convince the Treasury?'. My immediate, gut response was that HMT should not expect to be spoon fed from a position of assumed superiority. The role of finance is to enable good things to happen, not to mark other people's homework.

Well yes that too. The current system simply doesn't allow equalisation unless we think all the winners from fair funding are going to set lower rates, and in the current climate that doesn't seem likely.

Obvious solution: let places with lower council tax raise it by more than 4.99% until they reach the average. Otherwise you're locking places into permanently lower funding based on decisions often taken over decades by other administrations.

Adolf Hitler, the new 'bad boy' of the Weimar Republic, is giving voice to a generation of German douchebags who believe they were stabbed in the back at Versailles etc etc.

I think I'm including eg the Resolution Foundation and IPPR as part of Labour's resource. They form the party's shadow civil service, as evidenced by the fact that so many of their staff end up in and around government.

I respectfully disagree. Labour had *lots* of ideas to draw upon after 14 years in opposition. The missions were good and there was no shortage of advice on how to make them work. But I'm not sure the current leadership was ever very interested in policy.

The council is coming - let's see if it makes the difference.

If this gets off the ground I will be among those loudly cheering. My whole worry about Cambridge is really just that nothing will ever happen, because no actually available scheme is ever acceptable.

Ok so no busway. Big win! Then what? The status quo doesn't work either and there is no realistic proposal for change.

The light rail scheme is *incredible*. Yes please! But it's a gigantic project including a tunnel under the city. Who is going to pay? And how long do the people of Cambourne have to wait compared to the busway?