THERE is an art to negotiation, as any politician will tell you. However, a lesser-known skill is that of phrasing a request in exactly the way that will bring about the desired result.

Worcester MP Mike Foster is a canny practitioner of the above profession and so his disappointment with the failure of the county council's Chrissies bid should come as no surprise.

Mr Foster would probably shrink from using such un-parliamentary language in public, but it's a fair guess that in private, he's decided that the county has completely blown it.

It seems that rather than being solely concerned with winning Whitehall cash for rebuilding the troubled school, somehow or other, the argument has been clouded by the inclusion of Kidderminster schools into the financial equation.

The Westminster politicians cannot possibly appreciate the finer points here, unlike Mr Foster, who has a firm grasp of what is wholly a local issue.

Mr Foster admits to being embarrassed by the county's perceived ham-fisted approach. But this newspaper suspects that if the MP is red-faced, then it's also because it's his Government that has pulled the rug from under his feet.

Happily, all is not lost. Mr Foster has vowed to continue the fight to settle the vexed question of the school, once and for all.

Well said, that man. For the sake of the headteacher, staff, parents and children, this matter must now be sorted. Worcester expects nothing less, Mike.