Liberal Democrat Misanthropes

Bagehot had the misfortune to attend a Liberal Democrat fringe meeting on education reform. But I’m glad he did because he’s produced a righteous post that demands to be read in full. Here’s a taste of it:

The title of the meeting was blunt: “Will Schools Have Too Much Freedom in a Big Society?”

Mr Hames tried pluckily to defend the idea of radical, permissive reforms to British education policy. Such change might be messy, he conceded, as different sorts of schools and academies sprang up. But his audience—well-meaning and “progressive” local councillors, school heads and school governors—appeared convinced that changes to education policy (and certainly any changes to the powers of local councils over schools) spelled misery and disaster […] The assembled Lib Dems chomped mirthlessly on limp sandwiches and harrumphed their support for the status quo. They seemed blissfully unaware how wildly reactionary they sounded, and how jaundiced about human nature.