The good George giveth and he taketh away. A government with little ideology apart from a belief that markets are better than the state and a mistrust of government is doing more for English devolution than anything Labour managed in 13 years in office.

Local government is apparently content to take some responsibility for the NHS and parts of transport and the criminal justice system. But not schools. Once it gets its hands on education bad things happen. By 2020 every school in England will be in the process of becoming an academy – ‘setting schools free from local education bureaucracy', said George.