David Cameron defends comments about Pakistan and terrorism

British prime minister says he has not caused offence in Pakistan and insists he is not accusing the Islamabad government of promoting terrorism David Cameron today launched a strong defence of his attack on Islamabad in which he claimed that elements of the Pakistani state are responsible for exporting terrorism abroad. Amid deep anger in [...]

Asbos on the way out, signals Theresa May

Home secretary signals change in Tory crime policy as figures show record breach rates in antisocial behavioural orders The home secretary, Theresa May, has sounded the death knell for the asbo after new official statistics showed breaches of the orders had risen above 50%, and that their use has fallen to the lowest level yet. [...]

Iraq inquiry: Overstretched army almost seized up, says former chief

Ex-army chief General Sir Richard Dannatt says committing troops to Helmand in Afghanistan while insurgency in Iraq was growing presented a ‘perfect storm’ for the army A former army chief said today that the British army came close to “seizing up” over Iraq because troops were “overstretched”. Giving evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the [...]

Taxpayer pays £15m a year to send diplomats’ children to private schools

Subsidies, sometimes costing as much as £30,000 a year in school fees, being paid by Foreign Office even when diplomats have returned to UK The taxpayer is spending more than £15m a year to send the children of British diplomats and military officers to private schools such as Fettes, Winchester, Roedean and Marlborough. The subsidies [...]

David Cameron’s answer to budget cuts: get the public involved in DIY policing

Ben Jennings on the Coalition’s idea for the ‘big society’ in action Ben Jennings

Electoral reform: There is an alternative | Editorial

The issue is whether the boundary changes really are a gerrymander, as Labour believes. The answer is no At the general election two months ago, Labour was the only big party to propose a referendum on the alternative vote. Indeed, the party was so keen on AV that just before the election it tried to [...]

David Cameron in India: Smarm offensive | Editorial

Britain is unlikely to export its way out of economic stagnation and it will not be to countries like India when it does When David Cameron arrived in India with the largest posse of ministers and businessmen he could muster, he hardly got a mention in the national press. The presence in New Delhi of [...]

Response: Baby boomers are not responsible for society’s ills

It is far too simplistic to describe a whole generation as selfish Francis Beckett attempts to tar a whole generation with the sins of social and economic selfishness (The grasping generation, 6 July). The thrust of his analysis is that “we”, the baby boom generation, “trashed” the “wonderful inheritance” provided after the second world war [...]

Nick Clegg ‘bluffed’ David Cameron over alternative vote referendum

TV documentary reveals that Lib Dem leader might have misled his coalition partner Fresh claims emerge today that Nick Clegg may have bluffed the Conservative leader, David Cameron, into offering the Lib Dems a referendum on a change to the voting system as part of the coalition talks. The suggestion in a BBC documentary is [...]

Letters: The right to arrest war crime suspects

We are horrified at the proposals by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke to give the director of public prosecutions a veto over arrest warrants in private prosecutions for international crimes (Report, 22 July). The justice secretary’s statement appeared to question the ability of magistrates themselves to weed out flimsy cases. To imply that any previous arrest [...]

Letters: Failing to learn the lessons of Afghan history

Like Geoff Simmons (Letters, 27 July), we applaud WikiLeaks for exposing the bloody war in Afghanistan, and the Guardian for publishing it (Report, 26 July). The UK affection for US warmongering goes hand in hand with Cameron’s further development of a war economy (Report, 25 July). Is this why the government wants to end universal [...]

Theresa May to scrap asbos

Home secretary kills off Tony Blair’s flagship measure to deal with youth crime and anti-social behaviour Senior Labour figures mounted a last-ditch defence of antisocial behaviour orders tonight after the home secretary, Theresa May, indicated she is to kill off Tony Blair’s flagship measure to deal with youth crime. May said it was “time to [...]

Tony Blair brought military close to seizing up, says ex-army chief

Former PM bounced military into deploying large numbers of British troops to Afghanistan while they were facing a growing insurgency in Iraq, Chilcot inquiry told Tony Blair bounced military commanders into deploying large numbers of British troops to Afghanistan while they were facing a growing insurgency in Iraq, leaving the army close to “seizing up”, [...]

Cameron sparks diplomatic row with Pakistan after ‘export of terror’ remarks

• David Cameron makes strongest criticism of Pakistan yet• Islamabad accuses PM of damaging prospects for peace A furious diplomatic row erupted between London and Islamabad tonight after David Cameron accused elements of the Pakistani state of promoting the export of terrorism. Speaking on his visit to neighbouring India, the prime minister launched the strongest [...]

Home education: precious, not dangerous | Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison

The case of Khyra Ishaq was tragic. But to blame home education would be naive and destructive The idea that child abuse can be thwarted by tightening laws about home education has been around for some time. The tragic case of Khyra Ishaq prompted Ed Balls to commission a review of home education in 2009 [...]

Be clear, Labour is playing fast and loose on AV reform | Martin Kettle

A policy put forward in its manifesto just three months ago has been spiked by a spasm of hatred of all things Clegg Like the Levellers, the Tolpuddle martyrs or the Jarrow marchers, the Chartists of the 1830s and 1840s are up there among the Labour party’s most venerated secular saints. And rightly so. For [...]

It’s India’s poor who need British aid, not its military and business elites | Pankaj Mishra

In tickling the vanity of Delhi’s super-rich, David Cameron shuns the most principled area of the two countries’ relationship This week David Cameron flew to India in a chartered plane, accompanied by six ministers, innumerable corporate chiefs, and even a few Olympic medallists. Cameron has vowed to forge a “new special relationship” with the world’s [...]

Asbos: Tarnished emblem of Labour crime policy

Antisocial behaviour orders were condemned by critics as ineffective and populist The declaration by the home secretary, Theresa May, today that it is now time to “move beyond the asbo” scuttles the flagship of Tony Blair’s “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” approach to law and order. Conceived in 1996 when Blair [...]

Why David Cameron’s words disappoint Pakistan | Wajid Shamsul Hasan

Pakistan has made huge sacrifices in the war on terror. Yet the PM criticises us based on intelligence leaks that lack credibility I was surprised to read the reported remarks made by David Cameron when speaking to Indian businesspeople in Bangalore this morning, especially when he said: “We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea [...]

Julian Turner

My father, Julian Turner, who has died aged 93, was a veteran Green party member. His concern for the planet – and particularly his fears over global warming – led him to join, in the early 1980s, what was then the Ecology party, and he remained a member for the rest of his life. He [...]

Doctors should tell people they are fat, not obese, minister says

Anne Milton says word fat more likely to motivate people into shedding pounds, adding it was important they took ‘personal responsibility’ for lifestyles Family doctors and nurses should tell people they are fat rather than obese because such plain speaking would help more to lose weight, a health minister said today. Anne Milton said the [...]

Freedom of information campaigner justifies writing behind a paywall

Freedom of information campaigner Heather Brooke answers critics who think it ironic that her articles for The Times are now behind a paywall. First off, she writes, there is a difference between public bodies and private industries. The former should be transparent, and therefore accessible, so that the taxpayer can be assured they are working [...]

Tories sandbagged Clegg on electoral reform | Peter Hain

Spatchcocking the AV vote with blatant gerrymandering may have lost Clegg the chance to introduce a fairer electoral system The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has allowed himself to be sandbagged by his Tory partners in his otherwise laudable attempt to introduce a fairer electoral system, probably losing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for electoral reform. Instead [...]

At the 2012 Olympics, we’re playing for keeps | Dave Hill

The short burst of athletic competition is meant to give way to an Olympic legacy. Let’s keep our fingers crossed For an hour yesterday evening I gorged on the glamour of the coming games, served on a shiny tray by Britain’s leading broadcasters. Two years to go until London’s Olympiad and soaring expectation is just [...]

Cameron and co tread carefully over Kashmir | Nicholas Watt

It is clear that every minister accompanying David Cameron on his trip to India has been told not to talk about Kashmir Don’t mention Kashmir. That is the unequivocal message from every minister accompanying David Cameron on his trip to India. The six cabinet ministers have been drilled by the Foreign Office, which was bruised [...]

Politics Weekly: Diane Abbott, Afghanistan and arts funding

Following the publication of tens of thousands of documents relating to the war in Afghanistan we look at whether the revelations will lead to a change in policy. Diane Abbott calls for a withdrawal of British troops but suggests that a UN military presence is still necessary in the country. We also take a look [...]

Hans Blix’s words raise questions over David Miliband’s judgment | Chris Ames

In repeating misrepresentations that took us to war with Iraq, David Miliband has damaged his credibility “That referred mainly to the 1990s.” With these words at the Iraq inquiry Hans Blix shot down not just Jack Straw’s justification for backing the war but that offered recently by Labour leadership contender David Miliband. It is the [...]

PM faces Israeli storm over Gaza comments

No 10 denies it has raised rhetoric as row heats up over ‘prison camp’ comparison David Cameron was embroiled in an angry diplomatic row with Israel tonight after describing the Gaza Strip as a prison camp for its 1.5 million Palestinian residents. The prime minister drew fire at home and in Israel for remarks he [...]

Cameron calls Gaza strip a ‘prison camp’

Prime minister intervenes in Middle East dispute and hopes Turkey can stop Iran’s nuclear weapons programme David Cameron used a visit to Turkey to make his strongest intervention yet in the intractable Middle East conflict today when he likened the experience of Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip to that of a “prison camp”. Although [...]

Hans Blix: Allies used ‘poor’ intelligence ahead of Iraq invasion

Former head of UN weapons inspectors tells Chilcot inquiry ‘alarm bells’ should have rung when his staff failed to find evidence of WMD Britain and the US relied on dubious intelligence sources ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the former head of the United Nations weapons inspectors said today. Giving evidence to the Iraq [...]

Tensions increase after revelation of more leaked files

• Coalition commanders hid civilian deaths, war logs reveal• US, Afghanistan and Pakistan trade angry accusations • Leak poses ‘very real threat’ to US forces – White House Tensions between the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan were further strained today after the leak of thousands of military documents about the Afghan war. As members of the [...]

Labour closing gap as voters fear new recession

• UK divided on cuts in state spending, Guardian poll shows• Public award coalition just 5/10 for performance so far• Datablog: get the results of vevery ICM poll since 1984 Voters fear the return of recession and are divided on cuts in state spending, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today. A narrow majority also [...]

Cameron accuses France and Germany of double standards over Turkey

British PM makes speech in Ankara attacking EU partners for expecting Turkey to guard Europe’s borders as a Nato member while closing the door to EU membership David Cameron today challenged France and Germany over their opposition to Turkish membership of the EU when he issued a stark warning of the dangers of shutting Ankara [...]

Afghanistan war logs: live blog

The Guardian, the New York Times and Der Spiegel have published a huge cache of secret military files from the whistleblowing website Wikileaks, detailing the war in Afghanistan. Follow reaction to the Afghanistan war logs here.• Read a summary of events so far • Click here to see the full investigation 1.53pm: Remarkably, Assange is [...]

David Cameron’s India trip may be ‘undermined’ by immigration policy

Jo Johnson warns of ‘contradictory messages’ as prime minister sends largest delegation to the country in recent history Britain is sending “contradictory messages” to India by imposing new immigration restrictions on entrepreneurs just as David Cameron hopes to open up a new chapter in relations by leading the largest ministerial delegation to the sub-continent in [...]

Rory Stewart: calling my constituents yokels was foolish

Tory MP for Penrith and Borders says he was trying to highlight issue of poverty He has braved Indonesia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Conservative MP Rory Stewart will need to draw on his diplomatic rather than military experience to calm the furore he provoked by describing parts of his Cumbria constituency as “pretty [...]

Rape charge anonymity pledge dropped after protests by MPs

Justice minister says coalition will instead negotiate with Press Complaints Commission to influence newspapers and websites The government has abandoned plans to grant pre-charge anonymity to men accused of rape after an outcry from Labour and women Tory MPs. Crispin Blunt, the justice minister, has said the government will instead negotiate with the Press Complaints [...]

In praise of … the 1945 general election | Editorial

The postwar settlement it created has lost some allure, yet the Attlee government is still Labour’s yardstick When the polls closed in the general election of 5 July 1945, the ballot boxes were sealed for three weeks to allow servicemen’s votes to be returned from around the world. Then, on 26 July, 65 years ago [...]

The Spirit Level: Spooking the right | Editorial

Even though its great sweep invites all manner of sceptical questions, this book’s inconvenient truths must be faced It was briefly fashionable for modernising Conservatives, up to and including David Cameron, to demonstrate their progressive credentials by giving a nod to The Spirit Level, a book by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett which traced a [...]

Julian Assange profile: Wikileaks founder an uncompromising rebel

Nomadic crusader for ‘just reform’ via the web carries a desktop computer in his backpack Julian Assange is self-consciously an individual. He thinks in his own way, primarily as a physicist, having studied pure maths and physics at university in Australia where he grew up. So, for example, explaining his decision to found Wikileaks, he [...]

Afghanistan war logs: Massive leak of secret files exposes truth of occupation

• Hundreds of civilians killed by coalition troops• Covert unit hunts leaders for ‘kill or capture’• Steep rise in Taliban bomb attacks on Nato• Read the Guardian’s full war logs investigation A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have [...]

Wikileaks Afghanistan files: download the key incidents as a spreadsheet

Key incidents from the Wikileaks Afghanistan war logs selected by Guardian writers. As a spreadsheet, with co-ordinates• Get this data• INTERACTIVE: These key incidents mapped• Glossary of military terms It must be one of the biggest leaks in intelligence history. An archive of almost 90,000 files has come to light thanks to Wikileaks, logging the history [...]

Afghanistan war logs: the glossary

What do all those military initials mean? This is our guide• Datablog: Guardian selection of key events data The Wikileaks publication of the Afghanistan war logs has given us a unique insight into military language. The demands of having to communicate in battle have led to the development of hundreds (possibly thousands) of abbreviations and [...]

BBC website ‘needs clearer red lines’ to let competitors survive

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt praises corporation but also raises several concerns in Andrew Marr interview The BBC needs “clearer red lines” around its website to allow competitors that depend on private revenue to survive, the government warned today. Amid concerns that the government is hostile to the BBC, the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, lavished praise [...]

This coalition has yet to show us what it believes in | Jackie Ashley

Without a coherent ideology, it is hard to give shape to government; and without shape, it’s hard to convey direction Summer beckons to exhausted MPs and raddled political hacks. Everyone’s staggering the last few yards, bleary and desperate for a break. Let the tourists have Westminster for August. Only Labour leadership contenders will need to [...]

Ed Balls ‘fighting to win’ Labour leadership race

Candidate admits major blow to his campaign following decision by Unite union’s political committee to back Ed Miliband Ed Balls confirmed today that he was “fighting to win” the Labour leadership contest, as his campaign suffered a major blow when he failed to secure the backing of the Unite union. The decision by the political [...]

Academies will leave pupils ‘unprepared for modern life’, say critics

Campaign group argues coalition’s education reforms will lead to inadequate teaching of English, maths and science Thousands of pupils could leave school with a poor grasp of English, maths and science if key Tory education reforms pass their final stage in the Commons tomorrow, experts have warned. The academies bill – the coalition’s first major [...]

Niqab-ban Tory MP told he is breaking the law

• Tory warned of legal action for discrimination• Women have a right to wear veil, says Liberty A Tory MP has been warned he could face legal action if he follows through on a threat to refuse to meet constituents wearing the veil. Lawyers for Liberty have written to Philip Hollobone insisting that his stance [...]

Barack Obama faces rising pressure to publish Lockerbie bomber release letter

Scottish officials say US memo giving grudging support to freeing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi undermines president’s criticisms Barack Obama is under growing pressure to release a letter that reveals the US grudgingly supported freeing the Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds. The letter was sent to Scottish ministers by a senior diplomat at the US embassy in London [...]

Speed camera switch off plans spark safety warnings

Fixed cameras in Oxfordshire are likely to disappear as county looks to save money following funding cuts All 72 fixed speeding cameras in Oxfordshire are likely to disappear as the county looks to save money following government funding cuts in a move that could be copied across the country. Oxfordshire county council is cutting its [...]

This quintessential Cameroonia over aid first bemused, now baffles and enrages | Madeleine Bunting

The expanded aid budget is facing a backlash, and requires serious defence, but the coalition doesn’t seem to know why While fevered speculation in Whitehall continues over spending cuts and ministers are in tough battles to defend their budgets, one department is left untouched, nervously watching from the sidelines. The Department for International Development (DfID) [...]

Fashion industry faces airbrushing clampdown

• Government to push for health warning on airbrushed images• Equalities minister leads call for curvier women in photoshoots The coalition government is to put the fashion industry under pressure to stop promoting unrealistic body images and clamp down on airbrushed photographs in magazines and adverts. Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister, who has long campaigned [...]

Former UN expert accuses Whitehall of Iraq war cover-up

Chilcot inquiry witness claims government is trying to suppress embarrassing testimony about case for Iraq invasion A key witness to the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war has accused Whitehall of trying to silence embarrassing testimony undermining the case for the invasion. In today’s Observer, Carne Ross, the UK’s Iraq expert at the UN between 1997 [...]

Criminals could cut sentences by saying ‘sorry’

• Crispin Blunt wants victims to confront offenders• Restorative justice would lead to ‘rehabilitation revolution’ Tens of thousands of offenders may be able to reduce their sentences by making personal apologies to their victims, under plans for a “rehabilitation revolution” in the criminal justice system. Crispin Blunt, the prisons minister, is considering the move as [...]

Clegg goes on tour to boost Lib Dem support

Party drops to 13% in polls, with fears that image is being sullied by coalition with Conservatives Nick Clegg is to hold public meetings across the country this summer to boost support for the Liberal Democrats, after the party plummeted to 13% in the polls. The move by the deputy prime minister comes after dire [...]

Coalition government: Sink or swim for the honeymooners

Chris Riddell on the divergent fortunes of David Cameron and Nick Clegg Chris Riddell

My ideas for turning Holyrood into top TV | Kevin McKenna

First, let’s rebrand it as HolyroodLive! Most likely, you will not feel culturally enriched or in any other way transfigured for having watched events from the Holyrood parliament on a live internet feed. Nor will you, in years to come, remember where you were when you heard the news, revealed last week, that these proceedings [...]

It’s still all smiles at the top, but there’s rumbling down below | Andrew Rawnsley

The cabinet spent an awayday at Chequers preparing for the challenges facing the coalition in the weeks ahead As a gesture to austere times, the cabinet travelled to Chequers on Friday not in individual ministerial limousines, but on a coach. There were other features of the awayday at the prime minister’s rural retreat which gave [...]

Don’t knock our efforts to make the nation healthy | letters

We’re taking bold steps to improve public health in the long term and it’s inevitable that with change, comes criticism (“The coalition could damage your health“, editorial). We’re looking ahead to a future where people are encouraged and assisted to make informed decisions about their lifestyle and health. Change4Life is only just beginning. To ensure [...]

Tories say Labour wasted £300m on using private providers to cut NHS waiting times

New health secretary Andrew Lansley claims that the NHS could have done the work more effectively The decision by Labour to bring private providers into the NHS wasted hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, according to Andrew Lansley, the Conservative health secretary. The former government refused to disclose the amounts paid for the [...]

Labour leadership: Ed Miliband wins support of Unite union

Ed Miliband wins 24 nominations from Unite’s national policy committee Ed Miliband will receive a further boost to his campaign for the Labour leadership tomorrow when Unite, the largest trade union in the UK, declares its support for him. The union’s national policy committee yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of the younger Miliband, giving him [...]

India to sign £500m deal to buy Hawk jets

David Cameron hopes high-powered trade mission will seal more lucrative deals A £500m deal for BAE Systems to supply Hawk jets is expected to be one of a string of high-profile contracts signed during the prime minister’s trip to India this week. There is also likely to be a major cultural agreement involving museums. David [...]

India was Britain’s jewel in the days of Raj and empire. Now it is our partner

This week, David Cameron and other ministers fly to a country of boom, billionaires and brittleness, where the UK is still admired but can also arouse anger As his jet taxis over to the high-security VIP stand on arrival in Delhi this week the first thing David Cameron will see will be the recently opened [...]

Principles not trade should lead our policy | Editorial

The prime minister mustn’t put commerce before diplomatic goals in our foreign relations David Cameron was not responsible for the early release from prison of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber. Nor is he to blame for the release of millions of tonnes of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. But the two issues dominated [...]

Labour must come clean about Iraq and spurn its Blairite legacy | Henry Porter

The leadership candidates need to come out and say what went wrong and why New Labour practised the great deceit on the British public Being Tony Blair is not so hard. This time last year I had the enlightening experience of playing him for an hour while helping a friend prepare for an interview with [...]

Chilcot inquiry: Iraq expert Carne Ross claims civil servants are withholding vital documents

Britain’s ‘deep state’ of secretive bureaucrats is denying witnesses to the Chilcot inquiry crucial files I testified last week to the Chilcot inquiry. My experience demonstrates an emerging and dangerous problem with the process. This is not so much a problem with Sir John Chilcot and his panel, but rather with the government bureaucracy – [...]

Cameron is right to pin his hopes on a special relationship with India

The prime minister is well aware that emerging markets hold the key to rebalancing Britain’s economy What do Britain’s richest man, our largest manufacturer, and the biggest listing on the London Stock Exchange in the last two years have in common? They’re Indian. Multibillionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who leads the rich list, is the scion of [...]

The thing is, Dave, giving is an art. But not that sort of art | Catherine Bennett

If the prime minister was trying for cool when he presented the Obamas with a graffiti print, he failed Hull has been commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of the poet Philip Larkin with, among other things, the erection of 40 decorative toads, each three feet high. Why would they do that? Well, animal-wise, [...]

Remedy for UK deficit will leave patient feeling groggy for years to come

Almost every part of the economy, from defence to medicine, will be affected by cuts in the public sector. But there may be winners as well as losers It was a bright, sunny day when 19 senior executives, each representing one of the government’s biggest suppliers, trooped into Admiralty House off Whitehall to meet the [...]

Alex Salmond spares the US Senate another painful defeat in BP inquiry

Scotland’s first minister has turned down a request to testify in the US about Libya, BP and the release of the Lockerbie bomber by Kevin McKenna Senator John Kerry ought to be more careful about what he wishes for. The chair of the US Senate’s foreign relations committee wants Alex Salmond to appear at a [...]

Afghanistan: the US and UK exit strategy is under way, but cannot be allowed to look like failure

The war is winding down and its end game leaves all sides facing stark lessons On the eve of the annihilation of his garrison at Dien Bien Phu in May 1954, Brigadier General Christian de la Croix de Castries spoke to his commanding general in Hanoi a final time before smashing his radio. “You are [...]

The legacy of Lady Thatcher haunts the chancellor still

The chancellor is right to want to break with the last two governments and actively rebalance the economy. But his obsession with deficit-cutting is old-school Thatcherism at its worst I have been so critical of George Osborne recently that it seems only fair to give credit to our new chancellor where credit is due. And, [...]

No one wins when brother fights brother | Nick Cohen

The Milibands’ struggle for the leadership risks making the opposition look ridiculous And the Lord said unto Cain: “Where is Abel thy brother?” And he said: “I know not. Am I my brother’s keeper?” And he said: “What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” Like David [...]

Power to the people in David Cameron’s ‘big society’, or a Robin Hood fantasy?

Lukewarm reception for Tory leader’s vision of active communities The phrase has been bandied about since the Conservatives first raised it in the middle of the election campaign. Now, the “big society”, David Cameron’s key vision for the future, has been officially launched. Cameron’s plan to redistribute responsibility from “the elite in Whitehall to the [...]

Gallery: The doodle bug

Well-known artists, authors and actors play Anthony Browne’s shape game in aid of the Rainbow Trust

Ending fuel subsidy ‘would wipe out bus firms’ profits’

But low-income households will be hit hardest if fares rise and services are cut Four of Britain’s biggest bus companies could lose more than £200m in profits under plans to axe public spending on transport. The government is considering scrapping a scheme that allows bus operators to reclaim around 80% of what they pay in [...]

Secret diary of a civil servant: Whitehall’s summer term report

David Cameron and Nick Clegg made mistakes over wars and certain ministers must stop smirking, but the coalition has revealed some steely professionalism On Tuesday parliament will cease for the summer. For ministers, exhausted by the new demands of high office, it will be a relief. The coalition drove out of the showroom shiny and [...]

Commons sketch-writers swelter under the heat of scrutiny

Normally, writes a plaintively pathetic Quentin Letts in the Mail, parliamentary sketch-writers “would be on summer leave by now. But thanks to Commons workaholics – and the newspaper leader-writers who keep writing polemics about ‘lazy MPs’ – we are having to stay in Westminster for a further fortnight’s toil. Two more weeks of listening to [...]

The folly of the anti-stimulus consensus | Mark Weisbrot

Much argument for deficit reduction is economically illiterate, but even an expert like Ken Rogoff can be wrong on fiscal austerity In much of the world, including the United States and Europe, a debate is taking place about whether the government’s first responsibility should be to reduce unemployment – which is at elevated levels – [...]

Megrahi case exposes constitutional illiteracy | Gerry Hassan

It’s not just foreigners who seem confused – the British political class no longer understand the UK and Scotland’s place within it The Abdelbaset al-Megrahi case has many dimensions – how the UK government does business, the realpolitik of oil companies such as BP, and the way in which the west views the Middle East. [...]

Lockerbie bomber’s release was wrong, says William Hague

UK foreign secretary tells senator John Kerry release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was misguided but decision was one for the Scottish government The release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was “wrong and misguided”, the foreign secretary, William Hague, has told US senators. In a letter to John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee which [...]

Michael Gove has plans for covert schools selection – Ed Balls

Leaked official document questions future of schools admissions code Michael Gove is accused today of planning to let schools select pupils after a leaked government document questioned the future of the admissions code that stops schools favouring children they believe are more likely to produce better results. Amid growing unease among Liberal Democrats at the [...]

David Miliband ahead on cash for Labour fight

Former foreign secretary accused of ‘buying’ leadership elections as wealthy Blairite donors push his campaign chest to £200,000 David Miliband, the frontrunner in the Labour leadership contest, has raised at least £200,000, his campaign has revealed, as the disparity in financial backing for the five candidates emerges as a big issue. Two wealthy donors have [...]

Local charity cuts jeopardise ‘big society’ plans

Prime minister’s flagship idea at risk as reduced funding for community-based activity threatens to undermine local power Thousands of small community-based charities expected to help deliver David Cameron’s “big society” idea are facing potentially devastating cuts, leaving some under threat of closure, and putting services to some of Britain’s poorest and most vulnerable people at [...]

If Labour can’t fight social injustice, what’s it all for? | Polly Toynbee

The party must paint a bright red line linking itself to those who’ll suffer most from the coalition’s atrocious cuts Monday marks the end of the gruelling round of over 40 Labour leadership hustings with the deadline for “supporting nominations”. Tonight David Miliband had 130 constituencies’ support, his brother Ed closing fast on 106, Andy Burnham [...]

Housing benefit cuts will leave poorest £600 worse off

Housing benefit changes will hit unemployed people hardest, and pensioners and low-paid workers will also be affected Almost a million of the poorest people in Britain will lose on average £12 a week next year – a drop of up to 17% of their disposable income, according to a government analysis of housing benefits cuts [...]

Justice minister Crispin Blunt in firing line after row over prison parties

Rules relaxation is reversed as No 10 censures minister amid anger over comments aimed at David Cameron A rift between Kenneth Clarke and Downing Street opened today when government sources indicated that one of his ministers would be sacked at the next reshuffle after he announced a relaxation of rules governing prison parties. No 10 [...]

Ian Tomlinson case should be aired in open court | Henry Porter

The public needs to see justice done. Instead the DPP’s decision sends a message that the police are immune from prosecution Talk to any lawyer working the crime beat in an inner city and you will hear tales of police corruption and casual violence and abuse that you rarely see reported in the media. There [...]

Lord Heseltine to chair £1bn Regional Growth Fund

Former prime minister ‘excited’ to head scheme helping English regions bearing brunt of public sector cuts Lord Heseltine is to chair a panel that will consider how to spend a £1bn fund aimed at boosting regional economies. The Regional Growth Fund will support projects in England offering economic growth, including the creation of jobs, especially [...]

Lockerbie inquiry demanded by Justice for Megrahi committee

Campaigners who believe Abdelbaset al-Megrahi may be victim of a miscarriage of justice want new investigation The Scottish government was urged today to hold a public inquiry into the Lockerbie plane bombing. A group of campaigners who believe Abdelbaset al-Megrahi may have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice called on Holyrood ministers to [...]

Yarl’s Wood itself is the moral outrage | Phil Shiner and Daniel Carey

Closing the family wing is a step forward, but the government must admit its detention policy breaches human rights The deputy prime minister’s announcement to parliament that the family wing at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre is to close is an important, but partial, step towards restoring the rights of some of the most vulnerable [...]

Home secretary could turn 7 July inquests into public inquiry

Theresa May could move to ensure secret MI5 evidence is not released adding extra costs and delays to process Ministers could still turn the 7 July inquests into a public inquiry to prevent secret MI5 evidence being released, a hearing was told today. The coalition government said it would not launch a legal challenge to [...]

Economic rebound a double-edged sword for George Osborne and the Bank of England

The Bank of England will be concerned that the economy is not strong enough to withstand a hike in interest rates and a tightening of fiscal policy Another quarterly growth figure, another big shock. This time eyebrows were raised in the financial markets not by the weakness of the UK economy but by its surprising [...]

A new unease is hitting business confidence | Liam Byrne

Despite encouraging signs of economic recovery, the looming public sector redundancies are making business nervous Today’s GDP data confirmed the recovery had taken quite a hold in Labour’s final months of office. National output was up by a huge 1.1% in the second quarter of 2010 with good growth across the board. Services output was [...]

Sir Paul Stephenson: ‘The Met will shrink’

If one word captured the business discussed by the Metropolitan Police Authority yesterday it is “efficiency” – or a lack of it. In its plural form, of course, the word often serves as code for financial cut backs, and the threat of those ran through most of the proceedings. Sir Paul Stephenson framed the big [...]

The greenest government ever? Don’t make me laugh | Jonathon Porritt

Axing the Sustainable Development Commission makes no sense – economically or environmentally. It’s dogma-driven and brazenly cynical As the former chair of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), I’m clearly going to be a bit biased about the government’s decision yesterday to get rid of the commission. So I’ve been working really hard to put myself [...]

Is David Cameron sniffy about mustard?

The PM may have blown his chances with the American public by ordering a plain hot dog. Which other foods demand condimentation, and which do you guiltily smother with sauce? It wasn’t a major cock-up. He didn’t pat Michelle Obama on the bottom, spill tea on the rug in the Oval Office, or offer to [...]

Darling: GDP surge vindicates Labour

Former chancellor says 1.1% increase in growth shows that Labour’s policy of economic stimulus rather than cuts was right Alistair Darling has welcomed news of a surprise jump in GDP as proof Labour’s policies had been working – and insisted the coalition was wrong to claim the economy was in a worse state than generally [...]

Anger over Scottish justice minister’s Lockerbie inquiry snub

Kenny MacAskill, who released Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, will not fly to US for Senate foreign relations committee The Scottish justice minister has been accused of “running a mile” from a US inquiry into the release of the Libyan jailed for the Lockerbie bombing. Labour and Tory leaders said Kenny MacAskill, of the Scottish National Party, had [...]

Labour steps up pressure on Tories in Sheffield Forgemasters sleaze row

Millionaire Tory donor Andrew Cook accused of conflict of interest when he wrote to business minister The first sleaze row of the new government deepened today when a millionaire Tory donor, who successfully lobbied for the cancellation of a government loan to a promising engineering company, admitted he had wanted to invest in it himself. [...]

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