Archive of articles from 2012

Cameron insists Britain making 'progress' into 2013

David Cameron focuses on "progress" in his new year's message

Britain is "on the right track", David Cameron has insisted in his new year's message.

Sinn Fein's McGuinness quits Westminster non-job

Martin McGuinness resigns from Westminster as Sinn Fein ends "double-jobbing"

Martin McGuinness is stepping down as the MP for Mid-Ulster - despite never having actually taken his seat in Westminster.

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Hillsborough 'deceit' ex-MP Irvine Patnick dies

Floral tributes and Liverpool scarves lay in tribute next to the Leppings Lane entrance of Hillsborough Stadium

Hillsborough victims and their families are lamenting the death of Sir Irvine Patnick - because he will not be 'held responsible' for his role in the Hillsborough tragedy cover-up.

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Labour 'squandered £10bn' on tax credit blunders

Iain Duncan Smith attacked Labour's tax credits policy

Labour's tax credit system resulted in £10 billion being wasted on fraud and error, Iain Duncan Smith has said.

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'Jobs enigma' not going away

More and more in work, despite falling living standards

Britain's bafflingly positive employment figures are set to continue to confuse economists into 2013.

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Miliband's new year's resolution: Come up with some policies

Ed Miliband's party will offer "concrete" policy proposals on welfare, education and business issues in 2013

The Labour party will begin providing detailed policy proposals next year, Ed Miliband has promised in his new year's message.

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Lib Dem 'anchor' to weigh Tories down

Nick Clegg will ensure the Lib Dems remain an "anchor" on Conservative right-wingers

Liberal Democrats will continue to defy Conservative right-wingers by keeping the coalition in the centre of British politics, Nick Clegg has pledged.

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The James Bond solution: Thatcher advised on Falklands Exocet sabotage

HMS Sheffield was sunk after being hit by an Exocet missile

Margaret Thatcher's senior legal adviser suggested a "James Bond" solution to the threat posed by French-supplied Exocet missiles during the 1982 Falklands War, it has emerged.

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Autism strategy 'could waste money'

Autism is a lifelong, developmental disability affecting one in every 100 people in the country

People with autism are at risk of being let down by the government, a group of MPs has warned.

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Magazines told to scrap 'fad diets'

Festive indulgences will prompt many to consider crash diets in the new year

Women's magazines should drop articles encouraging miracle weight loss diets from their January issues, a minister has said.

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Clegg stands firm against Tory eurosceptics

Nick Clegg determined to resist Tory eurosceptic moves

Nick Clegg has warned eurosceptic Conservatives pushing for an in-out referendum against "putting the cart before the horse".

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Gay marriage enemies losing ground, poll suggests

Gay marriage on the horizon: The bill is expected to easily pass in the Commons although it could face obstacles in the Lords.

Voters are increasingly supportive of the coalition's gay marriage plans despite the opposition from some parts of traditionalist England, a new poll shows.

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Bishop compares coalition to Nazis over gay marriage reforms

Gay marriage supporters compared to Nazi approach to religion

The coalition's bid to legalise same-sex marriage will be compared to Nazism by a Catholic bishop later.

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Take your pick: Ministers open up fostering process

Ministers hope matching process will help families

Prospective foster parents are to be given more chances to choose the child they will eventually adopt under new plans announced this Christmas.

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Police chief under fire as plebgate continues in reverse

Bernard Hogan-Howe faces a troubled festive period

Metropolitan commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe is enduring a troubled Christmas, as Conservative allies of Andrew Mitchell continue to pile on pressure over the plebgate scandal.

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'Priced out of justice': Lib Dem MP fights court fee increase

John Hemming warns court fee increase could price some people out of justice altogether

Coalition proposals to increase court fees are "pricing people out of justice", a Liberal Democrat backbencher has warned.

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Plebgate: Mitchell ups pressure on Met commissioner

Andrew Mitchell denied using the world 'pleb' to describe a 'member of the lower social classes'

Former chief whip Andrew Mitchell has no confidence in Metropolitan police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe, according to reports.

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City shocked by 'electrified' banking ring-fence call

Change is coming to the City of London - and it doesn't like it

The government's plans to split banks' retail and investment branches "fall well short", MPs have warned.

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Police arrest man over 'plebgate'

A 23-year-old man has been arrested over the 'plebgate' affair involving Andrew Mitchell.

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Ireland to legalise abortion

Abortion is a hugely emotive subject in London

Ireland was steadying itself for a hugely emotional political debate today, after the government took the first steps towards legalising abortion.

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'Cavalier' BBC scorns payoff criticism

BBC's George Entwistle lasted just 54 days in the job

A damning report by MPs condemning the BBC's "cavalier use of public money" has been dismissed as "shabby" by Lord Patten.

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No, minister! Whitehall's Sir Humphreys face 'objectives' horror

"If people don't know what you're doing, they don't know what you're doing wrong," Sir Humphrey Appleby once said - but civil servants will soon have fewer places to hide.

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AV referendum cost £75 million

Miliband refused to share a platform with Clegg

Last year's referendum on whether the UK should adopt the alternative voting system for general elections cost the taxpayer £75 million, according to a report out today.

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