Education committee chairman, Mervyn Storey of the DUP, asked if the Department of Education's policies had contributed to the slow down "as figures were nearly better before their introduction".

BBC: Education Committee

As Devesh Kapur and Pratap Bhanu Mehta argued in a paper, political instability and a divided parliament - with the ruling coalition often a minority in the upper house - contributed to the slowing down of output.

BBC: Deja vu hits India's parliament

For what it's worth, the gossip in bank boardrooms is that Mr Varley is so miffed at the apparent implosion of his assiduous efforts to agree a deal with ministers (which went by the moniker of Project Merlin) that it contributed to his decision last week to step down as chief executive a few weeks earlier than originally announced.

BBC: Slim chance of bank bonus deal