Let us offer each other the sign of peace.

After requesting data from 25 councils in the region, the BBC has learned:A Department for Education spokesman said SEND children and young people had been "for too long let down", adding the government was "ready to speak to any council that is experiencing financial difficulties".

Several parents told BBC News they had been forced to take their children out of mainstream schools because they could not accommodate their EHCPs.Ruth said her eight-year-old son Samuel, who is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), had not been in a classroom since January.The Stockport mother explained that Samuel had previously been away from school for six months because his old primary had not been able to meet his needs.

While a specialist setting was eventually found for her son, Ruth said it still did not provide what was set out in his EHCP.She said this had left her with no other option than to withdraw Samuel from his new school.

When she could not find an alternative, she resigned from her job.

This year, Ruth said she had spent most mornings at home with Samuel, where he now receives 12 hours of education each week under an Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) outreach package run by an independent school tailored for autistic children.Looked at now you don’t have to be wildly uncharitable to conclude that was comprehensive baloney.

Labour, psychologically scarred by losing far more elections than they win, tend to try to hug the Conservatives close when it comes to tax and spending plans before elections where they think they can beat them, fearing anything else will spook swing voters and cost them the contest.And, pretty much, that is what Labour did back in the summer.

No such caution now.The books were worse than we thought is Labour’s mitigating plea, garnished with a we-won’t-do-it-again insistence from the chancellor