Mission not yet accomplished on the Higher Education and Research Bill

As the far-reaching Higher Education and Research Bill reaches the House of Lords, further amendments are needed to ensure it succeeds in its aims

Power - where is it located? How is it won and lost? On the face of it, Prime Minister Theresa May is the most powerful person in the UK. But she is struggling to "take back control" on behalf of the country because of the lack of unity on Brexit amongst her ministers. And now the shock result of the Richmond by-election is inducing panic among senior Conservatives, worried that they will not be able to convert a double-digit lead in the polls into a thumping parliamentary majority at the next general election.

Former Chancellor George Osborne recently provided some candid insights into the power-plays that rumble through Whitehall as the government machine wrestles with the process of policy-making. When things go wrong, he said, "it's almost always, I tell you now, cock-up not conspiracy."