As Britain recovers from the chaos that a few inches of snow wrought yesterday, today is brought to you from Creeting St Peter, my small but perfectly formed Suffolk village. We’ve had an inch or so here, mostly yesterday morning, but whilst there’s broadband, there’s hope, I’m told.

Talking of chaos, it seems like Government ministers have spent the weekend queuing up to sabotage Theresa May’s deal with the European Union. One does wonder about the wisdom of publicly talking about how and when the deal might be reneged upon, and with the Foreign Minister of Ireland, Simon Coveney, reminding us of what was signed up to;

Art.46 of Fridays agreed text re Ireland/NI: "The commitments and the principles…are made and must be upheld in all circumstances, irrespective of the nature of any future agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom." – clear and positive commitment from UK Govt

— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) December 10, 2017

it is hard to credit that any such act would be without repercussions. But, as has been the case throughout this sorry saga, the seeming lack of understanding that yes, you can break a contract, but you might not like the consequences much, makes you wonder how we could ever become the country of Brexiteer dreams with such hopeless leadership.

But enough of Brexit for the time being, what have we got for you today? I kick off, with this week’s preview of House of Lords business, with a particular focus on Liberal Democrat contributions.

Paul Walter has been busy, and he has news of a new award scheme that supports young activists wanting to take part in Parliamentary by-election campaigns. He also writes movingly on the work of the Samaritans and, particularly over the Christmas period, when life becomes hard to bear for the lonely and isolated, they do incredible work.

And yes, I’ll be ending the day with a musical interlude. The theme is “goodbye” and, if you have a suggestion, let me know via the comments. It isn’t necessary for me to like it as long as it’s interesting.

That’s all we’ve got as I write this, so if there is something you’re burning to say, why not draft it and send it to us in the usual way? There’s guidance available, so why not have a go?

* Mark Valladares is the Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice.