Roger Scruton is one of our great men of speculation.

Looking at scientific inquiry, next paradigm will be based on very large datasets. Scientists are in the lead in handling very large datasets – Hubble telescope or Large Hadron Collider are massive datasets.

The DSA scheme has not been reviewed for 25 years.

This is a timid step in the right direction. This bill would have been better if it had been bolder.

Promising to act urgently in 2004, announcing a new system 20 months later and finally having it up and running in 2010 is just not good enough and will not calm the fears of many parents.

Either Ruth Kelly does know how many sex offenders have been cleared to work in our schools, in which case she should tell anxious parents now. Or she does not know, in which case her department is shockingly incompetent.

Either Ruth Kelly does not know how many sex offenders have been cleared to work in our schools, in which case she should tell anxious parents now. Or she does not know, in which case her department is shockingly incompetent.

What I want her to do is answer the basic factual questions then in the light of that we can review the position she's in.

We think that is a good practical way of raising the quality of education.

We do not believe in quotas. They would not only be undesirable, they would be illegal. There is legal protection for the autonomy of universities in running their own admission arrangements.