In tribute to a West Wing episode where a vast amount of bad news is dumped to avoid scrutiny, it's been dubbed "Take out the Trash Day" .

On the very last day of the parliamentary year, the government traditionally publishes hundreds of documents and announcements, just when there are fewer journalists and MPs to scrutinise them.

Perhaps every one of the 400 reports, statements, and data releases that were published on Thursday simply weren't ready until today.

An alternative explanation is the government is very happy to publish all these documents at a time when most MPs are heading home and the country is distracted.

The idea is that there's so much to analyse, at least some of the bad news will be missed, but even if it's picked up, the negative reaction will be drowned out.