Excellent

A day off work: school is closed because of the snow which has been falling all over the Midlands for the last twelve hours or so. Accordingly I went for a walk to check out the village in its snowbound form: of course, it was beautiful (it's been about seven years since we had proper snow like this, about 8 inches' worth). However, this is the twenty first century, and Britain, so there was a big gang of teenagers on the village green throwing snowballs, with their rustic cries of: "Fuck off! Fuck off! Fuck off!" with barely concealed genuine aggression; which also proves that such aggression is not merely drink-related (it was 9am). So the place was gorgeous - apart from the people, naturally.

Not so excellent is Ivan Lewis' (Labour health minister) brazen hypocrisy on the subject of maternity unit closures. I'm well behind Mr E on this, but I picked it up in today's Torygraph. Lewis is full of bluster and bullshit, opining that just because he is a minister, it doesn't mean he ceases to have views, or that he ceases to represent his constituents. Quite so. It _does_ however mean that when people from _other_ constituencies complain, they are told to fuck off. It is good for everyone in the country, it seems, except the constituents of Labour ministers. They still haven't explained quite how mothers in this village (for instance) will in fact benefit from a minimum 40 minute drive to a maternity unit, they just keep repeating it like a mantra. I'm sure that when we get a load of babies born called "A40"; "Sixways" and "a layby just off the A436" they might start to get the message, although I'm well aware that parents tend to name after place of conception rather than place of birth. Having said that, I'd be ok with being called "A40" as opposed to "Alleyway Outside the Pub".

Not so excellent either is the ridiculous silence, or at best whispers of mild discontentment from the Tories on the subject of NHS closures. We do have a Tory MP here but he has remained steadfastly silent on this issue - as on many others - as if he were contractually obliged not to speak. Cameron has lost his balls recently and pulled his punches (the two are probably related - loss of testosterone). After siding with Labour over adoption, asking pointlessly minor questions in the House last week and barely reaching the target this, I wonder what exactly _is_ his strategy for winning the next election. I am seriously beginning to fear that a Cameron govt will look, sound and act distressingly like a Blair one.

In fact, now I come to think about it, today has been a rubbish day. Bloody hellfire, I wish I were at work.