U-turns on house arrest?

Charles Clarke appears to be considering relenting on some of the major issues that are causing the widespread opposition to his plans for detaining suspected terrorists.

This is a good thing, and it's a sign of what united and strong opposition can do to a dictatorial government, even one with a huge majority. Yet, this is what oppositions are supposed to regularly and consistently. If only we'd had one of those for the past eight years.

That's why a considerable cut of Tony Blair's majority would be a reasonable result in this election.

But if Charles Clarke thinks he can fool people into believing he was always planning on listening, and this is not just a reaction to the fact that the plans were doomed to be killed in the House of Lords then he really must think we're all stupid.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke's parliamentary private secretary, Stephen McCabe, said Mr Clarke had been "seeking consensus from the outset" and was "continuing to listen to people".

Classic. An absolute classic.