The Joy of Six 1296

William Wallace opposes the abolition of district councils on the grounds of efficiency and cost-cutting: "But there is a countervailing cost in local democracy and representation which Liberal Democrats - I would argue - should fight against. Most people see political issues through local experience and daily life.  Now that so many decisions have been removed to Whitehall, with service delivery transferred to private providers or autonomous agencies regulated by central government, it’s not surprising that so many voters see politics as a distant game played in Westminster over which they have no influence at all."

"When Morgan McSweeney replaced Sue Gray as Starmer's Chief of Staff two months ago many expected the government’s communications would improve. They have not. For that to happen Starmer must abandon his vision of politics, at least for now. He needs to recognise that a government - especially today - will to be judged on its actions and its words." It's time for Keir Starmer to embrace populism, argues Steven Fielding.

Jonathan Foley says artificial carbon removal is largely a sideshow when it comes to climate change. At best, it may eventually grow into a minor solution. At worst, it's a distraction from reducing emissions - and plays right into the fossil fuel industry’s hands.

Jonathan Liew on the Global Super League Twenty20 in Guyana, where big oil, geopolitics and cricket collide.

"His book humanises the work’s exalted creators and demonstrates that the Messiah is not a pompous manifesto of faith but a troubled, often desperate quest for consolation. Despite those hectoring hallelujahs, what moves King is the oratorio’s prescription for overcoming personal misery." Peter Conrad reviews Charles King's Every Valley: The Story of Handel’s Messiah.

Welsh carols, Derbyshire ballads and Cajun drinking songs: Jude Rodgers selects the best folk music for Christmas and winter.

And, as it's getting near Christmas, here's a bonus...

Classic FM's Zadok the Priest flash mob

This dates from Classic FM's 20th birthday celebrations in 2012, but it's rather wonderful and certainly appropriate to this week.

I don't see any of the shoppers complaining that classical music is "elitist".

Handel: Zadok the Priest

It was said of the late Duke of Edinburgh that he didn't favour High Church or Low Church so much as Short Church.

Though Charles III's wish to make the Coronation include more of the Britain of today is to be praised, the service didn't half go on. I would have been happy with I Was Glad, Zadok the Priest and then sloping off to the pub.

And, pace C.P, Snow, not all ancient British traditions date from the second half of the 19th century. The anointing screen you see being deployed here is an innovation by Charles. In 1953 his mother made do with a canopy to give her some privacy from the television cameras.

But why should the most sacred moment of the event be shielded from the public gaze at all? Does this decision arise from a fear that it all looks a bit silly?

Leaving aside Penny Mordaunt's turn as a warrior princess, let's consider the strange assemblage of treasures that were brought out, which varied from the priceless to the odd.

Yes, this sort of pageantry can come over as a calling down of the blessing of the Almighty upon the British class system, but the left's instinct for mockery - which I certainly share - does not always help the reformist cause.

I was reminded of the words of the American philosopher Richard Rorty in his Contingency, Irony and Solidarity:

The best way to cause people long-lasting pain is to humiliate them by making the things that seemed most important to them look futile, obsolete, and powerless. 

Consider what happens when a child's precious possessions - the little things around which he weaves fantasies that make him a little different from all other children - are described as "trash," and thrown away. 

Or consider what happens when these possessions are made to look ridiculous alongside the possessions of another, richer, child.

So if we want to change this strange country of ours, whose current borders date back to 1922, we need first to understand it.

Zadok the Priest is this weeks' Sunday music video - it's one of the pieces of music I used to play my mother in her last days and yesterday's outing seems to have own Handel many new admirers.

And on another musical note, one of Camilla's pages was a great nephew of hers who is also Steve Winwood's grandson. I hope this marks a decision to honour the Spencer Davis Group in all state occasions from now on.