Corrections on the Baby P Case.

Following the minister's press conference yesterday people have been appearing across the media claiming that they have read the Baby P case review. Some have even taken to waving a sheaf of papers around as if to illustrate the point. This is of course a lie. The papers they've been waving and the document they've read is the Executive Summary of the report rather then the report itself. Once you've got past the title page, the contents page and the glossary of this document it's only about 5 pages long and as the name suggests provides nothing more then a brief summary of the reports findings without providing any of the evidence that the authors used to reach their findings. It is the investigative equivalent of claiming you've read a newspaper because you've given the headlines a quick scan.

The second mistake I need to correct is my own. Yesterday I quoted the minister of saying that "[Sharon Shoesmith] would have her employment terminated.". This is of course incorrect because the minister actually used the much weaker phrase that "[Sharon Shoesmith] will be removed from her post." At the moment "removed from her post" means that Ms Shoesmith has been suspended on full pay. With the new temporary management team at Haringey only scheduled to be in place for the next twelve months there remains a strong possibility that Ms Shoesmith's punishment will amount to nothing more then a year long paid holiday before she is welcomed back to her post in January 2010.

With those clarifications made it is time for my weekly TV recommendation. This week it's The State Opening of Parliament on BBC 1 this Wednesday at 10:30AM. Although tediously factual this is an event that everybody should watch at least once in their lifetime. Tourists will be fascinated at the pomp and spectacle of the Queen riding along in a gold carriage and the Lords assembling in their ermine robes. British citizens should pay close attention too because in amongst all the quaint traditions there are many clear demonstrations of how British society functions. This years highlight will probably the moment when the impressively named Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod is sent down to the House of Commons to summon the MP's to the House of Lords. In expectation of his arrival it is the tradition for the speaker's staff to slam the door in his face forcing him to bang on the door and ask permission for an agent of the Crown to enter the House of Commons.

This peculiar little ceremony dates back to 1641 when King Charles sent his men to the House of Commons to arrest five Members of Parliament. The then speaker of the house refused them entry, the MP's escaped and the English Civil war began. Since that time it has been part of the British Constitution that no agent of the Crown may enter the House of Commons without the invitation of the Speaker of the House and his Sargent at Arms. Something which has suddenly become highly topical following the Current Speaker, Micheal Martin's (lab) decision last week to allow the police to arrest and search MP Damian Greene's (con) Commons office on accusations that he had been leaking information which was embarrassing to the government.