Coming to the end of a week's holiday from work. I've done a few odd jobs, some exercise and a bit of writing. My girlfriend and I went to Chester Zoo today and I've a whole list of things to take care of tomorrow.

This strategy of filling my time was supposed to serve a variety of purposes, making the week feel longer, making me feel like I've done something with it, but most of all it's to take my mind off having to go back to work on Monday.

Anyway, just a brief note on something I was reminded of watching Question Time last night. In light of the recent and controversial passing of Blair's education bill there was some discussion about schools and tactics for improving them.

Now the traditional Conservative views represented were criticised because, in the critics opinion, their approach would not lead to an equal standard of education for all. The government's recent bill is supposed to address this issue and the ruck within the Labour Party seems to have been over the bills ability to do this.

An audience member on Question Time pointed out that while the government's plans may well help failing schools in inner cities, it is not geared to solve the problems facing rural and suburban schools. The first thing that popped into my mind was a concept I encountered somewhere a few years ago which, while subtle, is vitally important to our supposed common goal of building a better society.

Being equal is different to being the same.

Our political system is monolithically centralised and it is in keeping with the mindset of such a system to try and solve nation wide problems with a blanket cure-all. Any attempt to suggest that one group of people should be treated differently to another immediately results in rabid, glassy eyed hysteria, it's not fair!

It's as if so many politicians and other suits have talked freedom and equality up for their own ends so much that the words have become the names of god, to be accepted, heard, but never questioned or invoked.

It might seem like a tricky concept at first, treating people differently while maintaining equality, but actually we do this every day. The idea that the less you earn the less tax you pay makes sense, and more importantly seems fair, to most people. Why can't we extend this thinking to other areas?

We insist, for example, on judging schools side by side with a simple tally of exam results. Doing this assumes that the schools are on a level playing field, that every pupil has the exact same opportunities and support, leaving the school's performance as the only defining factor.

Equality is vital to our society, and though we've come on leaps and bounds over the last century or two we're still a long way short of the real thing. If we really want it and if it's really as important and as ultimately beneficial as we're told it is, then we have to do three things:

recognise that our society is still far from equal,

replace not destroy the current class system, forget working, middle & upper, we're talking the mega rich vs the rest,

be prepared to put some effort in and think about what equality really means,

It's a lot of effort but I reckon it's probably better than the alternative in the long run, and hell, if we share the effort out it's not that much per person, how to do that fairly though, hmmm...