Paolo Di Canio: “a fascist but not a racist”. That’s ok then

I have no idea whether or not Paulo Di Canio is a racist, just as I have no clue whether everyone who waddles through Trafalgar Square on May Day with a giant portrait of Stalin believes in the necessity of the Gulag or a bullet to the back of the head. I would, however, hesitate to put such people in positions where they have authority over people who their political heroes regarded as expendable.

Five party leaders who never were

With David Miliband, the man once tipped to lead the Labour Party, resigning from frontline politics to take up a job in America, Left Foot Forward has looked at five leaders who came close but never quite made it to the top.