Six of the Best 485

No one should vote Liberal Democrat to get a coalition, argues Andrew Page.

Sam Freedman is puzzled: "given the improvements in behaviour; the reduction in criminality; the falls in truancy; the increase in aspiration; the improvements in home lives - all of which are known to link to academic attainment - why haven't we seen a commensurate, observable, rise in academic standards?"

As Political Scrapbook shows, the buck for chaos on the railways over Christmas stops with Patrick McLoughlin.

"Shelly Asquith, the student union president at University of the Arts London, says students feel locked out of universities' new 'flagship sites'. 'These buildings have a lot of security,' she told me. ‘Booking rooms is a long bureaucratic process, they are unwelcoming to students with children and any event requires a 10-page risk assessment. They no longer feel like student spaces, more like corporate show homes." Conrad Landin writes on the commercialisation of universities.

NewStart ("The magazine for making better places") offers a five-point manifesto for 2015.

Mick Hume praises Viz on its 35th birthday.