Triesman in pink

Still awaiting the call is David Triesman, general secretary of the Association of University Teachers. But perhaps not for long. At a recent AUT presidential reception Mr Triesman treated the secretary of state to a laudatory introduction. The jocular Mr Blunkett, perhaps relieved not to have been harangued about academic salaries and pay review bodies, returned the compliment by asking if Mr Triesman might not fancy a job as the government's public relations man in the Lords.

The modest Triesman laughed and turned ever-so-slightly pink. Perhaps he too has a title in mind already. Surely it would have to be Lord Triesman of Notting Hill, site of the AUT's airy HQ.