Of politicians and proofreaders

The Tories are criticising the government's Youth Crime Action Plan on the grounds that it was thrown together at the last minute.

At Question Time in the House of Commons yesterday, Nick Herbert, shadow justice minister, accused the government of " …still cobbling it [the document] together yesterday".

"Can the Justice Secretary confirm that the government was still amending the Youth Crime Action Plan yesterday?" he cried.

Apparently, Jack Straw looked down at the printed and bound document in his hands and said: "This was printed yesterday …"

Perish the thought that Nick Herbert ever comes out of his "shadow", but if he does, maybe he'll find out why the government employs a small army of Information Officers - who work behind the scenes to edit and proofread all government publications.

It's not all "spin" at the GCN, Nick!