Education Minister's Homework

Working late tonight doing my detailed homework for Stage 3 ( the final stage) proceedings of the Post 16 Education Bill which takes place in the Parliament Chamber tomorrow afternoon. There are four stage threes this week, the final week before the recess, and they include this afternoon's work in the Land & Building Transaction Tax Bill which is, as John Swinney reminded us, the first tax bill to go through a Scottish Parliament since 1705.

Tonight's task is , however, the type of thing that Leighton Andrews, the Welsh Education Minister who resigned today, will not have to do again.

He will be missed because he was an interesting and strongly committed education colleague with whom I had co-operated on a number of things. In fact I was due to have a phone discussion with him at 6.00 this evening but it was overtaken by events.