One of those moments that makes this Coalition worth the hassle

Whilst I freely accept that I voted for the Coalition Agreement, having never actually had to make difficult decisions in government myself means that, sometimes, I can be a bit blase about the implications. It's the old story, being in power is nice, having to compromise, not so. And yes, there are parts of the Coalition programme that I'm not wild about. However, raising personal allowances and taking the some of the poorest people in society out of income tax brackets altogether is a thoroughly good thing.

Last week, like many Liberal Democrats across the country, I got an e-mail, the gist of which was that schools in my constituency will be receiving £703,000 through the Pupil Premium.

Just because my constituency is habitually prone to voting Conservative doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of families who struggle to make ends meet. I've occasionally mentioned issues relating to rural poverty (which reminds me, there's a document I need to read and report back on...), and if you don't live in a big house, there is genuine hardship about the county. It is therefore good news that schools will have additional money to spend on the children who will need most support.

Now I accept that there are those who will say "yes, but you're cutting education spending overall", and they probably have a point. However, spending has to be cut across the piece, and education is not exempt from that. Providing schools with an incentive to focus more resources on those children most in need of support is, in itself, a good thing, the sort of thing that educationalists support, and I would like to think that, as the economy improves, funding can and will improve too. And, best of all, the amount of money will be increased year on year.

I'm not foolish enough to think that the public are going to suddenly start liking us again, but regardless, if we manage to do enough good to make the electoral pain a bit more bearable, we can at the very least go down with a bit of pride. And despite the cynicism that exists in this country and, in my view, is one of the most corrosive things about British politics, standing up for things that you believe in represents what matters most in politics...