Ask him why he would not cheat the colour line and eat in white-only restaurants and his answer is simple: "What would be the point? I couldn't have gone with any of my friends and when I got there I wouldn't have known anyone."

They will stick an Irish tricolour on the top and light it as they watch the flames dance to the tunes of their loyalist repertoire. The next day the Orange Order will march past the smouldering ashes to the pounding of drums and promises of defiance.

If you want to meet the key players in the next general election here's what you have to do. First of all, forget striving to become a lobby correspondent at Westminster. Not because the hours are long and the atmosphere somewhat stifling (those who went there via public school and Oxbridge remain under the delusion that all architecture is gothic, all deserts are served with custard and police only exist to give you directions), but because, despite the fact that Westminster holds some of the most coveted jobs on Fleet Street, once every four years you are no longer the principal interest of the main parties.

Penny Ellis has been ejected from the Big Brother household. With 624,786 calls, three times as many votes were cast in last week's eviction for Big Brother on Friday than for the entire Labour cabinet the day before. And with 42% of the vote, Helen has as much of a mandate to stay in the House as Blair does to lead government.

"I won't speculate about what other people might do," he says unconvincingly. His syntax, however, keeps giving him away. He cannot help referring to his current job as education secretary in the past tense: "I tried", "I wanted", "I thought".

While it might not quite have the drama of President Kennedy's assassination, most people in Luton can remember exactly where they were when they heard in December last year that the Vauxhall plant was going to be closed. They recall it because it was such a shock.