AS SHOULD be apparent from the above, the Education Secretary has a lot on his plate. Perhaps he needs the long Parliamentary recess.

Charles Clarke was suffering from a sense of direction failure in the House of Commons. During a debate he referred to land-locked Harrogate as being "by the sea".

Oh, how Labour Ministers do like to be beside the sea in Harrogate. Only last year, Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt referred to all the sea air in the town.

Perhaps Mr Clarke was making his contribution to the silly season. Or maybe he didn't pay attention during all those geography lessons.

Updated: 10:39 Friday, July 18, 2003