Archive of March 2014

Grayling faces legal threat over prisoner book ban

Chris Grayling warned that he could face legal proceedings over the prisoner book ban, as the campaign against the policy escalates

Happy birthday justice secretary: Campaigners prepare book present for Grayling

Chris Grayling to be given dozens of books for his birthday, as campaigners try to embarrass him over the prisoner book ban
Crisis of justice: Probation staff and solicitors go on joint strike

Joint strike by probation staff and solicitors brings parts of the justice system to a standstill, as Chris Grayling faces his latest crisis

Labour demands inquiry into Serco-run Yarl's Wood following woman's death

Labour has called for a joint inquiry into the death of a woman at Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre, ahead of a post-mortem tomorrow morning.
Poet Laureate takes on prisoner book ban with Pentonville protest

Carol Ann Duffy takes lead in campaign against the prisoner book ban with poetry protest outside Pentonville prison

Prison staff lash out at Chris Grayling over book ban

Campaign against Grayling's prison book ban backed by prison staff, as justice secretary's argument starts to unravel
Labour: We'll scrap the prisoner book ban

A Labour government would review the scheme outright and guarantee the prisoner book ban is overturned, Khan is expected to say

Alan Bennett joins prison book ban campaign

Justice secretary barely keeps his head above water as he's hit by multiple crises
The truth about flooding: Poor areas three times more likely to be hit than rich ones

England's most deprived neighbourhoods are 3.5 times more likely to be flooded than the most well off, according to new research

Miliband in crisis again as left reveals frustration with Labour leader

Left-wing campaign groups speak out against Labour party's strategy of 'playing it safe'
Prison book ban: Grayling hits back at critics

Justice secretary hits out at critics of decision to ban prisoners receiving books, saying the rule is necessary to improve rehabilitation rates

'Shadows of the 30s': Ex-military chief raises Nazi threat in fight against Army cuts

Former head of the Army warns the Crimea crisis' "uncomfortable shadows of the 30s" are a reason for boosting the size of the British Army
The myth of North Sea oil: Scots face £1K deficit growth per person under independence

Scotland would be "significantly worse off" under independence, with the deficit growing by an average of £1,000 per person, according to economists

Tories rebel against party's anti-immigration message

Signs of a fightback against the Conservative's increasingly harsh anti-immigration rhetoric, as a group of MPs join together to make the case for a more moderate approach
Gap closes in Scottish independence campaign as 'yes' camp gathers momentum

Gap between the 'yes' and 'no' campaigns in the Scottish referendum narrows to seven points, amid signs of momentum in the independence camp

Tories close in on Labour lead following Budget poll boost

A pair of disastrous polls for Labour see the Tories start to close the gap with the opposition, in the wake of a well received Budget
Super-rich criminals happy to stay in jail - if it means keeping their stolen cash

Criminals are effectively being allowed to keep stolen money in exchange for more time behind bars, MPs have revealed.

IDS: Give British jobless work before looking overseas

Companies should offer unemployed British workers jobs before looking overseas, Iain Duncan Smith has suggested.
The return of Boris? PM wants his 'best striker' back in parliament

David Cameron unexpectedly gives his blessing for Boris Johnson's Commons return

Miliband unleashes left-wing politics on Scottish independence referendum campaign

Ed Miliband will appeal to Scottish voters' desire for 'social justice' in his biggest intervention yet in the independence referendum campaign.
Government allowed 'anti-immigrant prejudice' over Romanian immigrants

Failure to provide estimates of how many Romanians and Bulgarians would come to Britain last year stoked "anti-immigrant prejudice", according to an influential committee of MPs

MPs grumble as Tony Benn honoured

Tony Benn's body will 'rest' in a Commons chapel overnight
It's not a trap! Balls defiant over welfare cap

Ed Balls rejects suggestions the chancellor laid a 'trap' for Labour in yesterday's Budget

Scots want power over immigration 'to make it more welcoming'

Most Scottish voters want Holyrood to be handed powers over immigration as part of a devolution process, in order to disassociate the country from the increasingly harsh policies being implemented south of the border
It's a trap! Labour faces 'budget responsibility' vote

Labour will be forced to confront its deficit reduction position this autumn when the coalition pushes through a Commons vote on a new 'charter of budget responsibility'.