Archive of May 2013
Businesses doing 'not great, but OK'
Britain's economy got the mildest of pats on the back today, when an influential business group was optimistic enough to declare that firms are performing "not great, but OK".
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Miliband team hit back after Gove's blancmange jibe
Ed Miliband's team have hit back after Michael Gove likened the Labour leader to a blancmange.
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Lobbying scandal prompts Mercer to quit Tory whip
Patrick Mercer is quitting the party over a lobbying scandal.
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Google 'must do more' to combat child porn
Google is facing calls to do more against child pornography after Mark Bridger was found guilty of murdering April Jones yesterday.
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Hague wants Commons veto on EU law
MPs should be able to block EU laws outright if they are opposed by the Commons, William Hague is expected to argue later.
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Watchdog 'timid' as loan sharks rampage through recession
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has been dismissed as "ineffective and timid in the extreme" over its regulation of loan sharks by a scathing Commons report.
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Not so fast: Osborne closes oil and gas tax loophole
George Osborne is legislating to block oil and gas companies from recovering up to £900 million in tax bills.
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Clegg on snoopers' charter: 'Some bits of bill will be saved'
Nick Clegg paved the way for the survival of elements of the snoopers' charter today, after he said the government was "pursuing some parts" of the bill.
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European legal battle looms over immigration benefits test
Britain is being taken to court over an extra test it imposes on migrant benefit claimants.
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Lib Dems turn on MP over sexual misbehaviour claims
Mike Hancock could be about to be kicked out of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party over allegations of sexual misbehaviour.
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The truth of austerity Britain: Half a million go hungry
Over half a million people could be going hungry in modern Britain because of the government's changes to the benefits system, a damning new report has found.
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Green deal scorned as insulation figures collapse
The government's efforts to save energy appear to have backfired after figures showed cavity wall insulations has all but disappeared in the last 12 months.
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UK's Guantanamo? Afghan detainees held for months without trial
British soldiers have held Afghan detainees captive without trial or access to legal help for up to 14 months, it has emerged.
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Lesson of the day: Don't have surgery on a Friday
Patients who have surgery on a Friday or over the weekend are significantly more likely to die than those who undertake it on a Monday, alarming new research has discovered.
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Hammond won't yield before star chamber threat
Philip Hammond has made clear he is far from waving the white flag over more spending cuts, after George Osborne reconstituted the 'star chamber' to bring Whitehall's biggest beasts into line.
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The plot to get snoopers' charter passed without Commons vote
The Home Office is trying to get powers from the communication data bill passed without the need for a Commons vote, in a move which would be greeted with outrage by the Liberal Democrats.
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Boris wants Cameron to 'fail miserably'
Boris Johnson wants David Cameron to "fail miserably", the prime minister's former spin doctor Andy Coulson has claimed.
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EDL defeated... by a cup of tea
The Muslim community in York is being praised for its thoroughly English response to far-right extremism, after the English Defence League (EDL) was countered by the well-timed deployment of cups of tea at the weekend.
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NHS staff boost 'won't fix A&E crisis'
The NHS' accident and emergency (A&E) crisis will not be solved quickly enough by the coalition's staff training announcements, Labour has said.
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Nipped in the bud: Osborne dismisses more welfare cuts
George Osborne has ruled out any further cuts to the welfare budget in next month's spending review, risking another bout of anger and opposition from the Conservative backbenches.
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Putting the courts out to tender: Privatisation report generates consternation
Britain's courts could be privatised as part of radical efforts to achieve savings at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), according to a report.
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Gordon Brown: Parliament's highest-earning MP
Former prime minister Gordon Brown is the member of parliament earning the most from work outside parliament, new data have revealed.
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UK and France hustle EU into dropping Syria arms embargo
Britain could supply arms to Syrian moderates in the future, following a diplomatic victory over European Union opponents yesterday.
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Balls busts RBS shares giveaway
Labour is ready to fight the coalition's plans to get rid of its shares in RBS, Ed Balls has made clear.
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The case of the missing renewable target: Davey sets out EU goals
Britain will call on the EU to cut its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 later today.
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