Archive of February 2010

Tories call for change as lead slips to two points
The Conservatives have unveiled their campaign slogan of "vote for change" as one opinion poll reduced their lead to just two points.
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Cameron: I'll overthrow Brown for Britain
David Cameron has described his campaign to oust Gordon Brown from Downing Street as a "patriotic duty" in a robust speech to the Tory party spring conference.
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Court publishes new Binyam Mohamed paragraph
A paragraph criticising MI5 from the ruling concerning Binyam Mohamed earlier this month has been published, in a further damaging blow to the government.
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Britain breathes sigh of relief as growth hits 0.3%
Fears of a double dip recession appear to have been temporarily put to bed as revised figures showed 0.3% growth in the UK economy.
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Tory lead down to five points
The Conservative lead over Labour has been reduced to just five points, as the party prepares for its spring conference.
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Charity Commission launches bullying charity probe
The bullying charity whose intervention in the Gordon Brown bullying allegations this week caused consternation and anger across the political spectrum is being investigated by the Charity Commission.
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Crackdown on music videos demanded to protect children
Music videos with suggestive themes should be banned before the watershed to prevent the sexualisation of children, a Home Office report has suggested.
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Miliband falls prey to sexy Twitter hacks
Ed Miliband has become the latest politician to fall prey to a Twitter hack that sends out sexual explicit messages from the user's account.
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Taliban 'reeling' as Afghanistan operation makes progress
Taliban fighters are offering an "incoherent" response to the Operation Moshtarak offensive in central Helmand province, despite the death of another British soldier.
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'Motive' is new focus for assisted dying prosecutors
The "motivation of the suspect" has been made the main focus for prosecutors when they assess assisted dying cases, but the director of public prosecutions has denied relaxing rules on euthanasia.
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Brown to Blair: 'You ruined my life'
Gordon Brown repeatedly shouted at Tony Blair that he had ruined his life in their final confrontation before the handover of power, according to new details of Andrew Rawnsley's book.
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RBS announces bonuses despite losses
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced £1.3 billion of bonuses despite revealing losses of £3.6 billion.
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Salmond publishes independence bill
Alex Salmond has revealed the questions that could be asked in a referendum on independence today.
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Global poverty pushed up agenda
An attempt to send global poverty up the agenda for the forthcoming general election campaign has got underway in St Paul's Cathedral.
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Osborne drags debate back to the deficit
George Osborne has dragged political debate back to the deficit, with a speech which made "Gordon Brown's debt" central to the Tory campaign.
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Asylum claims plummet
The number of people claiming asylum in the UK has fallen, according to official figures.
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Cameron draws blood
David Cameron brutally mocked Gordon Brown's relationship with Alistair Darling today, after an interview with Sky News saw the chancellor admit Downing Street unleashed "the forces of hell" against him.
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The media on trial
The media is facing its most comprehensive trial for years today, after an influential group of MPs finally released their long-awaited assessment of the industry.
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PM apologises for child migrants
The prime minister apologised to the British children forcibly sent to Commonwealth countries for a life of abuse and unpaid labour this afternoon.
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Brown tries to limit damage from Darling comments
The prime minister and his chancellor are engaged in an unprecedented war of words in public after Alistair Darling said the "forces of hell" had been unleashed against him.
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MPs: Libel is destroying free speech
Britain's libel laws are threatening to destroy the country's reputation for free speech and must be urgently reformed, MPs have warned.
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Trafigura: Parliament hits back
MPs have hit back at Trafigura's attempt to impose a 'super-injunction' on parliamentary proceedings with a demand for firm regulations to make sure it never happens again.
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Maddy McCann and News of the World stoke MPs' anger
The reporting of Maddy McCann's disappearance and the News of the World phone tapping scandal reveal the decline of press standards, MPs have found.
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Exiting Kilfoyle 'prefers outback to politics'
Peter Kilfoyle, one of Labour's most colourful backbenchers, has confirmed his plans to stand down at the general election.
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Argentina takes Falklands to UN
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon will meet with Argentina's foreign minister as opposition to Britain's ongoing sovereignty over the Falkland Islands rises.