It also carries an interview with Conservative leader of Barnet Council Mike Freer and his “easyCouncil” model (as a Barnet resident, I was interested to see that my council tax was spent on clearing up all the grit on the pavement on Monday and putting back more grit on Tuesday – value for money FTW!).

The Tories have been attacked for publishing misleading crime statistics in such a way that makes a couple of cock ups by the IPCC look insignificant. Chris Grayling is unreprentent.

And finally, Gordon Brown announced a range of intended constitutional reforms yesterday in a speech to the RSA. Most of the coverage has focused on his plans for a referendum to reform the electoral system, but more radically he also announced his intention for the UK to have a written constitution by the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta in 2015. Exciting stuff but given Brown’s track record, could he deliver?

Meanwhile, a man not especially reknowned for his valuing of science, Pope Benedict, has been condemning UK equality laws.  Some people are more equal than others in the eye of God, it would seem.

Talking of equality, Gordon Brown appears to have finally come off the fence when it comes to electoral reform.  The Alternative Vote system isn’t proportional but it would mean all MPs would have to command a majority and it would mean fewer wasted votes.  The Lib Dem response, as Stephen Tall points out, has been a “stinging welcome“.  It would appear that the government will be announcing support for a whole host of amendments to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill today, including ones regarding Lords reform and excluding non-doms from Parliament.

The latest ComRes/Independent poll confirms that the gap in support between the main parties has narrowed in recent weeks, with the public deeply confused about what passes for David Cameron’s economic policy.  Interestingly, Tory support amongst men is currently much higher than Tory support amongst women.