These days it isn’t just anxious looking MPs and peers, lobbyists, civil servants, journalists and security officials you’ll find wandering near Westminster, says Simon Barrow. Among other unexpected visitors have been Batman, a troupe of clowns, Basil Brush and his foxy friends, a group of zombies and a super-sized duck home

Bonfire Night is coming home to Parliament again this year, with a special floating effigy heading down river to remind MPs not to "duck the challenge" of political reform.

Two Christian campaigners from Manchester have begun a 2-week protest camp outside the Houses of Parliament to call on MPs to help change UK policies that are making refused asylum seekers destitute.

In the early hours of Tuesday 9 September 2008, volunteers from Christian charity Housing Justice counted 206 people sleeping rough in the London Borough of Westminster - highlighting the continuing seriousness of the problem.

The annual Channel 4 Political Awards offer an entertaining entree to the world of parliamentary politics, says Simon Barrow. But an award to a controversial lobby group raises questions about how politics is conducted - not least by Christians.

Westminster easily gets mired in posturing and trading for influence, says Simon Barrow. But there are glimmers of redemption and genuine conviction in the political vocation too - even if we need to go well beyond politics to realise them.

Simon Barrow says that party politics may have blurred but the role of religious and non-religious beliefs can still elicit a lively debate.