18th October  

  This week at Westminster has been dominated by the Spending Review announcements. But I am writing this article on Monday morning, before all the news is out, so I will save my analysis until next week’s article. I will, however, comment on one issue – the speech by Nick Clegg MP, the Deputy Prime Minister, in Chesterfield last week.   I was delighted that Nick was able to confirm that schools will be a priority area within the Spending Review, and that the Government will be introducing a “Pupil Premium” to deliver extra investment to the schools with the most disadvantaged pupils. I was closely involved in developing this policy during my time as the Liberal Democrat Education Spokesman, and it is great to see the policy now being introduced – particularly in a tough spending round. Nick was able to confirm that the Pupil Premium will reach...