David Cameron and his box of surprises strikes again.  Is the UK about to follow in the footsteps of Bhutan and measure gross national happiness?  The nef are certainly excited, since they've been advocating the measurement of wellbeing rather than an all-out focus on GDP for a long time.  Jules Peck at LFF is also keen on the idea.  Apparently Cameron had earlier gone quiet on an idea of 'General Wellbeing', and the Spectator wonders what's happened to make talking about happiness worthwhile again. 

Of course there have been a few inevitable sniggers over the idea of measuring wellbeing coming so close on the heels of welfare cuts.  On which topic (the IDS cuts, not the sniggering), Kate Green has some insightful comment. 

Over now to my regular C of E slot and we have a gloriously learned piece about the flying bishops from Diarmaid MacCulloch.  Bishop Alan Wilson, fast becoming a regular to watch over at the Guardian's CiF, considers the Anglican covenant.  Elsewhere, the Church is copping flak for trying to flog Auckland Castle. 

Totally unrelated, but I rather enjoyed this potted bio of Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson, who was one of the first female MPs (and included in Churchill's war cabinet, no less). 

The big palaver has been Demo2010, the student protest march in London which turned ugly.  The threat of violence is often inherent in a protest, but it often seems doubly so in a student one.  This was of course not violence igniting throughout the crowd, but the usual "yeah, that showed 'em" brigade who excel at ruining it for everybody else.  (On HE reform itself, see this article about Mandelson, Labour and the Browne report.) 

The shouting-and-placard-fest marks David Cameron's 6 month anniversary as PM.  He'll be out for his tea, then.  ToryDiary's Paul Goodman reflects on 6 months of 'Dave'.

North-South divide watch: now then, here's summat on that.  (I am reminded to review Helen Jewell's book on this.)  

An interesting post by Aaron Peters at LFF on 'anxious aspiration'. Peters' solution is a Labour politics of 'familiar fairness in unfamiliar times'.  Yet, elsewhere, Mark Vernon writes that 'a rigorously fair [society], would, actually, be an inhuman one.'

Phil Woolas has gone, but questions of racism and political campaigning remain.  Two responses from the Labour blogs: Dan Hodges suggests 'Phil Woolas is our fall guy' and Jon Lansman responds that 'this isn't a working class racism problem, this is a Labour problem'. 

Finally, stepping away from the politics!  On the heritage front, No Tech Magazine have sniffed out a bunch of free online pamphlets about things like tool care, hedging, and dry stone walling. Also, British Waterways are planning big work on the canal network.  Someone remind me to try and see the lock gate workshop at Stanley Ferry!

My official anthropological opinion about tired Tory phrase "Broken Britain" is that the most interesting bit about it is what gets picked as an example of the happy days when Britain was whole/unbroken/fixed/virginal.  But this isn't an article about that: this is Deborah Orr on how come, if the Tories think Britain is broken, they think it'll help to cut benefits?  And how come, if Labour thinks Britain isn't broken, they think cutting benefits is the apocalypse? At any rate, Simon Jenkins reckons the Tories better get around to blaming someone else for their cuts. 

Baroness Warsi has addressed the bishops, promising that the government 'gets' G-d.  With quite a bite at the last government on that front.

Mervyn King ('e's governer of the Bank of England, 'e is), got up in front of the TUC.  At last report he is still alive, but banks, bailouts, and bonuses were discussed, so it's a wonder.  A slow clap to the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union crew, who ditched the speech to watch kids' telly instead.  

Also comedy gold: Simon Hoggart reimagines Harriet Harman and David Cameron as Lizzie and Darcy.  Incidentally, turns out Jane Austen was not hot on punctuation.  Duly noted by Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells, I hope.

Also literary, the British Library has acquired a stash of Ted Hughes' letters.  This is him, in 1957, on being in the US: "luxury is stuffed down your throat, - a mass-produced luxury - till you feel you'd rather be rolling in the mud and eating that". 

In British history news, this is anniversary season for the Battle of Britain, which can be indulged in here , but it's also the anniversary of the Benares tragedy, a U-boat attack on a passenger ship which killed 81 evacuee children.