The House has risen, the children have been unleashed from school and the Tory bruiser David Davis has been heard muttering about the "Brokeback coalition". All in all, the silly season has begun. Satire, as our picture essay starting on page 26 shows, has long been a rich seam of British cultural life. And so, to honour Britain's annual descent into frivolity, we bring you an issue devoted to the comedy of politics and the politics of comedy. We've also managed to track down the self-styled New Statesman himself, Alan B'Stard (page 32). If that doesn't cheer you up, and the sight of a coalition dismembering the country continues to distress, recall the response David Cameron once gave when asked for a joke: "Nick Clegg." Happy holidays.