Mr Hain's excuse for the omission – that he was pre-occupied with his ministerial job – was never credible. It was well known in Westminster that Mr Hain was desperate to take over from John Prescott as deputy leader. The fact that he spent far more ...

There are many quiet ways of stealing an election, which keep these activities under the "radar" of election observers, foreign governments and the media. A mosaic of different tactics brings targeted voters' numbers down, so stealing marginal seats ...

However, I fear that food celebrities may have some influence in the planning of this initiative without knowing what happens at grassroots level. This was evident in Mark Hix's article (23 January). His recipes were far too expensive for the majorit...