A couple of things struck me about Labour's manifesto launch today for the Kent County Council elections on June 4.

The first was that we have become accustomed to hearing from the Conservatives complaining about public sector profligacy and waste - and here was Labour using uncannily similar language as it unveiled its own crackdown on spending on "pet projects."

My prediction that it would single out Kent TV and the recently launched "healthwatch" scheme as targets for such a crackdown proved accurate but hardly came as a surprise.

I was intrigued by what the manifesto had to say about Kent's 11-plus. Avoiding a specific commitment to scrap grammars, the manifesto simply states: "Under local Conservative, selection in schools disadvantages most children, labels 11-year-olds as failures and means Kent continues to under-perform educationally."

I think it is the phrase about selection not working under the Conservatives in Kent that puzzles me. Is Labour saying that under its stewardship, grammars might be made to work?

~ Read our story about the manifesto launch >>>