Supermarket giant Tesco has recently been given a green light to build Britain's first ever straw-powered Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant to meet the electricity and heating needs of one of its distribution centres.

BBC: Time to encourage biomass growth

Given that the call from Mr Straw was so recent, that is a charitable verdict.

ECONOMIST: The Mandelson affair

Given the disgraceful conditions that still exist in many British prisons, Mr Straw needs to give a lead and announce a much more positive attitude to private-sector management of prisons.

ECONOMIST: Prisons