Education secretary Charles Clarke tells the Telegraph he is against Ken Livingstone's return to the Labour Party.

"Anybody who betrayed the party as he had should serve the period of exclusion set out in the rules," he said in an interview.

He defends children's minister Margaret Hodge who last week issued an apology to a child abuse victim.

"She's an outstanding minister with a tremendous commitment. The muck-raking is outrageous," he said.

And he also gave a reassurance to middle class parents on the thorny issue of tuition fees.

"Parents are no longer going to have to pay up-front, as they do now," he said.