Backstory: On 27 April I had a long discussion with Afzal Anwar during a visit to Marsden Heights Community College.  He explained, in front of others, that his sons were being educated in Pakistan but that his daughters were being educated here in Pendle.  I issued a press release later that day making my view crystal clear, that someone seeking election to the UK Parliament should not be sending his sons to Pakistan for their education.

On 28 April, Lord Greaves told us that Afzal Anwar’s wife went to Pakistan on an extended visit following a tragic family bereavement. “She took with her their young children, who are naturally going to an English-speaking school in Pakistan while they are there. The family expects to be reunited within a few weeks when Afzal's wife and children return to Nelson in June. The children will resume their education in local schools in Pendle. Prior to going to Pakistan the children attended Macmillan Nursery and Marsden School.”

He chose not reveal that the boys went earlier “to visit grandparents”.

Why did he omit this highly relevant detail especially since I had alleged the sons had been packed off to Pakistan to be educated in an elite private school, just like their father?

Greaves huffed and puffed and said the very suggestion that they were in Pakistan for their education was “despicable”.

Today, Greaves tells the Lancashire Telegraph: “The facts of the situation are that two of the children had gone to visit their grandparents for six months. They would have come home but, due to a family bereavement, they were joined by their mother and the three other children instead. They are all due to return in June.”

What else hasn’t been revealed? Are we going to be told when the boys were taken out of school in Pendle?

We need some dates from our pin striped barrister candidate.

I think, M’lud, our not-so-learned friend is being economical with the truth.