Peter Hoskin

When the GMB union invited Vince Cable to address their conference today, I doubt they wanted this: a warning that the government could legislate if the brothers decide to militate. The Business Secretary does add that "the case for changing strike law is not compelling," so long as industrial action remains limited. But, on the surface, this is still the firmest coalition attack on the unions since David Cameron and Boris wrote that angry article for the Sun in January. And it comes from the side of the coalition, the Lib Dems, who were thought to be opposed to taking on the unions in the first place. Perhaps Cable really is more ruthless on this than his reputation would suggest. The question, though, is of how the rhetoric will translate to reality.

The generals and the politicians are at odds with each other. This much has been clear since the run-up to last year's Defence Review, but it finds a particularly clear expression in the Telegraph's interview with Lt Gen James Bucknall today. Britain's most senior commander in Afghanistan may not say, in terms, that we should avoid a timetable for withdrawal from the country — but he skirts awfully close to it. "It is of utmost importance that we stay the course, that we stay as long as it takes to finish our job," he says, only a fortnight after David Cameron announced that 450 troops will be pulled out of the country this year. More specifically, Bucknall wants at least "two winters and two fighting seasons" without a diminished combat capacity.

You may have noticed that Barack Obama came to the country on a state visit this week. But he wasn't the first US President to be extended an invitation from the Queen, oh no. George W. Bush beat him to that particular honour in 2003. Here are a couple of Spectator pieces from the time, the first the magazine's leader column, the second by Peter Oborne: Don't burn Bush, The Spectator, 15 November 2003 The Queen's state carriage has carried some pretty rum types over the years. Nicolae Ceauscescu took a break from murdering his countrymen to take a ride down the Mall in June 1978. In 1994 it was Robert Mugabe's privilege and in 1979 Kenya's President Daniel arap Moi - at a time when Moi's corrupt administration was bleeding his country of £00 million a year.

Academies, as CoffeeHouser knows, are booming. There were around 200 of them when Michael Gove became Education Secretary last May. Now, just a year later, and steaming well ahead of expectations, there are over 600. This is, as Benedict Brogan suggests in his Telegraph column today, one of the great successes of the coalition era — albeit one that owes a debt to Andrew Adonis, Tony Blair and all the school reformers that came before them. And it is a triumph of quality, as well as of quantity. The simple, overwhelming truth is that academies are, on the whole, better than the schools they replace.

And the Word of the Day is "we". Both David Cameron and Barack Obama deployed it liberally in their joint press conference just now, as they ran through all the mutual pleasantries and backslapping that attends these events. "We have discussed the two things we care about the most," flushed Cameron, "getting our people jobs, and keeping our people safe." From there on in it was first name terms — "thank you, David" — and claims about the strength of our two countries' special, essential, unique relationship, etc. With the sun blazing down on the garden of Lancaster House, I'm sure the photos will turn out nice. Cameron appeared to be the more eager of the two men, however.

Ed Miliband owes Coffee House contributor Ed Howker a drink. In his speech today, the Labour leader borrows the central idea — and the title — of the stunningly insightful book that Ed wrote with Shiv Malik last year, Jilted Generation: How Britain Bankrupted its Youth. It is, basically speaking, the idea that the current generation of twenty-somethings is, in many respects, disadvantaged in comparison their baby-boomer forbears. From the burden of dealing with debt, both personal and national, to the fluctuations of the housing and labour markets, young people are up against it. And it may get worse. As Miliband puts it, "I am worried — and every parent should be worried — about what will happen to our children in the coming decades.