Also:

Props to the ever-reliable NewsArse! for this pert summary of the problem with the Tories' pathetic schools policy:

I’ll run the best school ever - until my child leaves, confirm parents
Parents across the country have reacted positively to the Government’s plans to let them run their own schools, claiming they will run the best school this country has ever seen, right up until the point that their child leaves, when they will probably lose interest. Felicity Downing, a parent keen on the scheme said, “Yes, I will dedicate my life to making this new school the very beacon of educational excellence, right up until my Sophie gets her GCSEs. Then I’ll obviously want to sell off the land in the hope of saving about £20 on my council tax bill.”

But just to even things out with a bit of anti-LibDem material, I have just finished The Leopard by Tomasi di Lampedusa, a fantastic novel that I bought because I found out it is Nick Clegg's favourite book. The writing is unquestionably brilliant throughout and I haven't underlined so many beautifully-observed phrases since I read What A Carve Up!, but this passage about the qualities necessary to govern, in particular, made me smile:

"...what would the Senate do with me, an inexperienced legislator who lacks the faculty of self-deception, essential requisite for anyone wanting to guide others. We of our generation must draw aside and watch the capers and somersaults of the young around this ornate catafalque. Now you need young men, bright young men, with minds asking 'how' rather than 'why', and who are good at masking, at belnding I should say, their obvious personal interests with vague public ideals."

Cleggshell.