QUOTE:
operational factors still lurk in a corner of my mind
Somebody somewhere [with close contacts in the Treasury] has clearly decided "peace in our time" and moves it one click forward every 1 Jan.
Then the poiticians decide to do good somewhere, spend lives and treasure, and have to retrench further in the aftermath.
It is a constant in recorded history. Very few in politics have, or had, respect for history, looking only at "events, dear boy" and the next Election.
Churchill was a notable exception I believe.