There are 64 days until Christmas.
With a bit of basic subtraction, this means there are barely 40 days and nights until chancellor George Osborne delivers the now quite wintry Autumn Statement on 3 December.
So, expect bells and whistles, more gift-wrapping on the conference-pleasing tax giveaways and other pledges that could provide the clear blue water between the main opposition, coalition partners and UKIP upstarts alike.
And that’s before council finance officers can worry about when exactly before Christmas they can get the figures on the local government settlement to worry with over the New Year.
