Straw In The wind

You'd think a Justice Secretary would be able to keep on the right side of the law. But Jack Straw can't. The High Court has just delivered his second legal defeat in the space of six weeks.

Fresh from his caning in the Appeal Court for keeping prisoners in jail longer than necessary, he's now been told that the Parole Board is not sufficiently independent of the government. A challenge by four prisoners who said the board was too close to the government and its decisions were not "objective" has been upheld.

The Ministry of Justice has said it will appeal, of course. (Don't worry, it's only our taxes they're spending).

Pending the outcome of that appeal, Jack picks up another couple of points in our Fantasy Government game.

Two offences in six weeks. Three strikes and you're out, anyone ?

PS - It's pretty hard to see Hilary Benn failing to score Fantasy Government points on the back of the Foot & Mouth outbreak. Even the BBC, whose early spin was that it was all Merial's fault, is now admitting that Defra might have a case to answer. But Womble On Tour doesn't award points lightly, so is just waiting to see what else comes out in the next few days...