Comprehensive education does work, I suppose. I would have problems lamenting it as I am a product of that system, the '60s and into the '70s experiment, and as a teenager, had the first of the sandal wearing trots masquerading as teachers.

But can't complain. Comfortable, got a PhD, more insulated from government decisions than most, and I suppose I should be grateful. Except of course anybody who is comfortable should be grateful for the environment that you became successful in, but to be grateful for your own success within that environment would be tantamount to being religious, ascribing your own endeavours to a higher power. Not much chance of that, so happy to be smug I suppose...

Galloway is a Popinjay, as Bridge points out, although it was Galloway himself who resurrected the term. Hitherto, it was a hotel in Scotland at Rosebank where I used to stay on business many times, and their kitchen was one of the best. Never thought I could get such good food so close to Glasgow.

Galloway, when you listen to him, does want a Labour government and sees his stunts as injecting a wake up call, in the same way as Ken Livingstone did when he first became Mayor of London. Second time lucky I suppose, but for all the faults and downright incompetence of this coalition government, I genuinely don't see an alternative yet. The economy is the key to the nation's success or failure, more now than in days of plenty, and I have no faith in Balls to do any other than live up to the unfortunate parodies his name conjures up. Ed Milliband was a key advisor of Broon, don't forget... (Mind you, Cameron used to advise Norman Lamont, and even write some of his scripts for him.)

One thing Osborne does recognise is that a sustained recovery, (which all main parties put in their manifestos, so he does have the right to try to achieve it..) does require the city to have confidence in the policies. It can be argued to eat the rich all you like, but unless you sit in your armchair rallying the sort of revolution that would mean your next meal isn't guaranteed, you have to take the city with you. A bit of a bugger, but there you go.

In case anybody didn't notice, we don't manufacture much these days, and the work we contribute to the GDP can be outsourced by the multi nationals at any time. What keeps us at the G8 table is our financial industry. Destroying it would be no better than when Th*tcher destroyed my earlier livelihood. Either way, you bugger up your ability to enact the social program that the genuine contributors to these threads wish to see, me included.