The THES diary

Next stop: bomb shelter

For most people, the prospect of a delay in the completion of the Jubilee Line will come as no great surprise. But what is really intriguing is the part the Houses of Parliament (Westminster station is part of the JL extension) may have played in causing the delay. Rumours among architecture academics suggest the nuclear shelter underneath Parliament is the real reason for holding things up. The appointment of secretive American engineering and construction firm Bechtel, which has a history of taking on sensitive defence-related construction projects in the US, has helped to fuel rumours.

Join party or pay Pounds 250

If New Labour has had a rush of educational recruits to its membership in the run-up to conference, it could be merely efficiency gains. Non-Labour members wanting to attend this week's education fringe meeting at Blackpool - organised in a new link-up between the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals and Association of Colleges - apparently found joining the party the only way to escape paying the Pounds 250 security pass fee.

Honeymoon nerves

George Mudie, new junior minister for lifelong learning, had other worries. So nervous was he at his first big appearance since taking the job last month that when he arrived in Blackpool he had forgotten where his hotel was. "I had to ring Leeds and get them to tell me," he confides.

Saddle-sore Lord

When Lord Davies of Oldham, Labour's former spokesman on further and higher education, failed to find a seat at the last election, he found a chair - of the Further Education Funding Council. Now he has a saddle. With two fellow academics from Middlesex University Business School completing swimming and running legs, his 40km cycle ride helped the team be the fastest veterans in this year's London Triathlon.