Full marks so far

Blimey. If it carries on like this, I'm going to be voting for a Conservative government for the first time in my life.

The party's education policy seemed to me the only positive reason for a Conservative vote. But Cameron's speech yesterday was superb. I was particularly taken by the clarity of his remarks on knife crime (my next book deals with politicians and criminal justice policy in depth, so I've been paying special attention). The evidence that prison works is overwhelming, especially on the young. The only chance we have of stemming the tide of knife crime is to lock up anyone caught in possession.

I was also taken with the force of Cameron's remarks on personal responsibility. Regular readers will know that this is a bugbear of mine.