I DIDN'T BREAK THE LAW - I *AM* THE LAW

George Osborne, theoretically at least, is David Laws’ boss. What he should be doing, provided there are no further facts to scrutinise, is stepping outside the door of Number 11 and calling down the thunder. He should tell the press that his faith in Laws’ ability is undimmed. He should say that forcing Laws out of the closet was to the press’ shame. He should say that he believes that Laws has made and will make sound and prudent judgements about the economy and looks forward to continuing to work with him through a very difficult period. In other words, he should be willing to step into the line of fire for his colleague. Showing this amount of courage could turn the Coalition into a team; the spectacle of a Conservative defending a Liberal Democrat would do nothing but cement trust. It would also be an eloquent statement to the Alistair Campbells of this world that their form of political discourse no longer works.

Too right.

Stuart White is distressed by the abolition of the Child Trust Fund, claiming it as "one of the great liberal achievements of New Labour".

I am a great believer in the Ackerman/Alstott idea of a "stakeholder grant"*, particularly as a cover for university tuition fees, and it is sad to see the basis of such a grant strangled in its infancy by the very liberals who should be 'pro' such a scheme.

Is there anything that can be done before the fund is abolished, in order to save it?

I'll be writing to my Lib Dem MP, who might actually have the power to do something about it for once.

* Incidentally, why has Alstott been dropped from Stuart's list of stakeholder grant progenitors? She literally (co)wrote the book on the subject.

NO COALITION WITHOUT PR, NICK

Keep the pressure on. Email him here, and tweet at @nick_clegg.

Mention STV. AV and AV+ are not really good enough, and he knows this is true. Let's deliver a fair voting system for ever. Email. Tweet. Pass it on.

NO COALITION WITHOUT PR, NICK email cleggn@parliament.uk tweet at @nick_clegg #letsactuallyfixthevotingsystem please RT

Edit: added hashtag. Also, you can email the Lib Dem Federal Executive here. Please be brief, polite and unsubtle.