The latest Yougov poll claims that the Conservatives now have a 26 point lead. UK Polling Report. The government is set to help home owners as repossessions are set to rise. BBC. Channel 4. There are plans to start a national database of 'bad employees' which can be accessed nationally… read more…

Millions will vote today in the UK local elections. BBC. ePolitix. Londoners will also be voting in the Mayoral Election. ePolitix. It was revealed that a quarter of UK pupils will not get into their first choice primary school. The Times. The House of Lords has ruled that doctors trained… read more…

If you wanted to discuss the issue of education within the Third World, who would you turn to? An academic who has spent his whole life researching the topic, maybe? Possibly a charity worker who had spent a significant amount of time working in such poverty-stricken corners of the… read more…

The Tories have blamed the country's current economic problems on Gordon Brown (naturally). BBC. E-Politix. Alistair Darling asks banks to go easy on mortgage costs. The Guardian. The Chancellor also has plans to visit China with some of his banker friends. The Wall Street Journal. George Bush and The Pope… read more…

We're assuming that you're reading this after recently arriving at your office for the Monday morning grind. Please accept our commiserations but rest assured that, despite the planet's usual state of discord, things seem to be pretty much in order. The best of the morning's stories are as follows: Following… read more…

A question: has any British government ever won, or lost, an election because of its education policy? We ask because there are signs this morning that this government's "policy" - more choice for parents in selecting schools, more independence for the best-performing schools, combined with a shedload of extra cash… read more…

Uh-oh, tighten those belts. The Bank of England says it's going to be choppy in 2008 thanks to global mortgage-lending buffoons. Presumably the Tories are now well ensconced in the "any bad news is good news for us" zone, so Happy New Year, Davey! Cleggers is investing in social mobility,… read more…

BONG! If someone hasn't thought of that headline already, we're copyrighting it. Anyway, Dave put his Unionist T-shirt on in Edinburgh today, before nipping out to buy some Scottish wool and shortbread. We think our picture is more descriptive of the Tory-Scotland interface than another one of bloody Mel Gibson,… read more…

Looking forward to Ed Balls' Children's Plan this week? Well, he's given us a sneak peek by recommending some role models for Britain's young people: “I think the Spice Girls have been good role models,” Balls said. “They inspire girls to believe they can stand up for themselves and do… read more…

The Telegraph are reporting that Davy's going to announce Conservative "co-ops" which allow residents to take over the running of local services, including schools. Hmm. Westmonster realises that she always seems to be the one widdling on everybody's fireworks, but foundation hospitals (similar premise) have hardly been a roaring success… read more…

The Government plan to claw-back funds from state schools has been shelved after bad publicity consultation with key stakeholders. Remember folks, even if 100 schools had said they thought the policy was a good one, the Gord would still not have gone ahead with it. Lorely Burt is the… read more…