Frank Field MP and many others throughout the Party almost got the job done, as thankfully Gordon Brown finally had the sense to promise to compensate those poorest people losing out from the abolition of the 10p tax rate. Time will tell if they get anywhere near adequately compensating the lowest earners. People are right to be sceptical and we must be vigilant after this catastrophe.

The BBC is reporting that Gisela Stuart and Graham Stringer have resigned from the "I want a referendum" campaign committe, after Geoff Hoon threatened to withdraw the Labour whip.  But Frank Field and Kate Hoey have said they are still fully committed to the project which targets pro-European MPs with small majorities  (all bar one of whom just happen to be Labour).

Frank Field has come up with some suggestions: the frontloading of child benefit, the election of Chief Constables and allowing some children to leave school earlier than 16. I agree with two out of three of those suggestions.

The Fabian Society has asked a few Labour MPs what they would propose to Ed Miliband for insertion into the party's next election manifesto. Here are the thoughts of Frank Field:

Frank Field today released a report press-released as "Frank Field MP: Government brutally discriminates against two-parent families", trying in part to make the case that tax credits favour lone parents too much.  This has been enthusiastically reported by the right-wing press. The problem is that he has, for his headline fact, made an incorrect (or at least grossly unfair) comparison.