"Not much news, is it?" said a bemused policeman, keeping his voice down. "Woman Has Baby Shock!" The spin doctors, who know how soothing a wave of popular emotion can be for mid-term headaches, will have been concerned at the lack of a cheering throng at the gates.Large parties of tourists came and went Open-top buses paused, some of their occupants applauding. David and Mary Lou Hersch from Ohio, had no idea that only a gurgle away from them the first baby born to a serving prime minister in over a century was coming to terms with the world.The 20 Brownies up from Guildford, Surrey, knew exactly why they were there - they posed on the steps of Number 10, the front row holding up eight sheets of paper with letters spelling out: "It's A Boy!" The girls also delivered a teddy bear and card. Emily Wall, aged nine, said the choice of Leo was "cool", adding: "We're so lucky to be here today."Jayne Masters of Cumbria had stopped by with her nine-year-old daughter, Jade, on the way to the London Eye, which loomed over Whitehall from across the Thames "They seem like a loving family," she said.

"I just hope they get to spend a bit of time together, because you need that, don't you?"But Wayne Davies of Edgbaston, taking in the sights before heading off to support Aston Villa at Wembley, was less effusive. Told by a pair of reporters that the Blairs had given birth to a baby boy, his reply was monosyllabic: "So?". One of Britain's most senior black politicians has accused his party of putting up "institutional barriers" to those from minority groups. One of Britain's most senior black politicians has accused his party of putting up "institutional barriers" to those from minority groups. Trevor Phillips, who chairs the London Assembly, and who ran as Frank Dobson's deputy in his unsuccessful bid to win the mayor's job for himself, said it was disgraceful that there were so few black politicians represented in the new assem,bley.In an article in The Observer newspaper, he said new devolved assemblies in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London were also virtually whites-only area.He acknowledged the issue was a problem in all parties but threw a brickbat at his own for counting black voters as among their core supporters.He said: "The problem lies in the nature of the party itself, and we need to take a hard look at why we are failing our most committed members."Clearly, there are institutional barriers to black participation at the highest level."Mr Phillips said new selection procedures for candidates had raised hurdles for young aspirants."The professionalisation of selection with high-powered interviews and presentations, though improving the calibre of candidates, requires a kind of life experience denied to many from minority communities."Would the young Bernie Grant have made it through the current process? I think not."He calls for Labour to commit itself to a public target and says some aspirant MPs who are not black or Asian must put their ambitions on hold.And he said given that 40-50% of the Labour vote in London is black or Asian that there should be at least 25 MPs who are not white.The criticism will sting the Labour hierarchy as it comes close to accusing them of institutional racism and echoes criticism made by black union leader Bill Morris.It also comes as the party begins the selection of a candidate to replace Bernie Grant who died earlier this yearGurbux Singh, new chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, said if true Mr Phillips' accusation was "extremely" worrying.He told GMTV: "This notion of indirect or institutional racism is a matter which all of us need to consider. No agency, no organisation, no body is exempt from the need to examine itself.""It is of concern that when you have a third of London's population drawn from minority communities that the London Assembly only has two black or Asian members on it."If you look at national politics how many significant black and Asian politicians do we actually have - a mere handful, and I suspect that that is not likely to change at the next general election."So there are some matters of real concern which the Labour Party needs to address."Home Office Minister of State Charles Clarke said of Mr Phillips' accusation: "There's certainly an element of truth in it".He told GMTV's Sunday Programme with Alastair Stewart: "I was a councillor in London some years ago and a large number of the councillors were in fact from ethnic minorities and we had a very large participation from the black community in local politics."But it's certainly the case that the recent London election gives rise to the question: how effective have we been at ensuring that we've got sufficient black participation within the Labour Party?"It is a question the Labour Party has to look at but I think it's also important to say we've already made significant strides both in terms of MPs and in terms of ministers."end.

A Labour-dominated select committee is to back William Hague's proposal to scrap the "double jeopardy" rule barring the retrial of people for the same offence. A Labour-dominated select committee is to back William Hague's proposal to scrap the "double jeopardy" rule barring the retrial of people for the same offence. The Home Affairs Committee will next month call for people acquitted on serious charges to be brought back to court if new evidence emerges.It will recommend that rape and murder defendants should be retried if substantial new prosecution evidence is found.Last week, William Hague repeated his pledge that a Conservative government would abolish the double jeopardy rule if "new and compelling evidence of guilt comes to light". He was attacked by the Government for his populist "knee-jerk, headline seeking".A review of the double jeopardy law was first suggested by the Macpherson inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence but opposed by Jack Straw, the Home Secretary. He did, however, refer the issue to the Law Commission, which has since recommended amending it in exceptional cases.The Tories opposed abolition of the rule when the Law Commission report was published last year but Ann Widdecombe, the shadow Home Secretary, announced a policy change earlier this month.There have been numerous cases where defendants have been acquitted then admitted their guilt. One considered by the Select Committee was that of Billy Dunlop, who this month confessed to the murder of pizza delivery girl Julie Hogg. But he cannot be brought back to court because he was tried and acquitted in 1991.Last night, Michael Mansfield QC said abandoning double jeopardy would be a "disaster".