Good old daze

Is Labour's front-bench education and employment team on some kind of productivity bonus? Not content with generating about half of the thick pack of reports handed over to conference delegates, it, and shadow secretary of state David Blunkett in particular, were as omnipresent on the fringe as once were luminaries of the left like Tony Benn.

The impression that Mr Blunkett, like God, is here, there, and everywhere, was at its strongest on Tuesday evening when he was billed to speak at three meetings. All of this may help account for one of the week's better Freudian slips. At one session Mr Blunkett found himself referring to the party leader as "Neil". "Shows how Old Labour I am," he quipped, recovering rapidly.