Stuck in the middle

Though it went largely unmentioned publicly at last weekend's Liberal Democrat spring assembly, the decision to drop the party's recommital motion while the Teaching and Higher Education Bill was in the Lords was causing rumbles. Innocent victim in all of this is education spokesman Lord Tope. He has come under fire in some quarters for doing the deed - rather unfair really, as he did so with great reluctance under orders from party high command after desperadoes from the government had taken electoral reform plans hostage and threatened to consign them to the legislative oubliette.