A Frenchwoman has been charged with murdering eight newborn babies and her husband with hiding the bodies after skeletal remains were found in a village. […]
Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn have been jailed for life for murdering three-year-old Ryan Lovell-Hancox, who they were babysitting over Christmas. […]
12.30pm Parliament: Stephen Metcalfe makes his Commons debut in support of the Academies Bill as Rory Stewart makes a second maiden speech 11.45am WATCH: David Cameron defends his comments about Pakistan's record on "exporting terror" 10.30am Jeremy Brier on CentreRight:... […]
Midnight ToryDiary: Tell people that they are "fat" rather than "obese", recommends Anne Milton 10pm WATCH: Pakistan must not export terror, warns Cameron 6.30pm ToryDiary: "Mr Cameron has insisted that not another single British soldier will be deployed to Afghanistan... […]
7.15pm WATCH: Cameron and Obama watch over each other at Madame Tussauds 5pm ToryDiary update: Conservative Friends of Israel regret Cameron's failure to condemn Hamas in Ankara speech 4pm ToryDiary: CCHQ says Labour will be easier to fight once a... […]
10.45pm Melanchthon on CentreRight: Why we offered a referendum on AV 10.15pm ToryDiary: Cameron gives unequivocal backing to Turkish membership of EU 7pm Parliament: 44 Tory MPs sign Early Day Motion opposing Coalition's timetable for AV vote 6.30pm WATCH: Rory... […]
We know that Chris Patten is advising David Cameron over the Pope’s visit – the Spectator interviewed him in that capacity recently. But a number of events this week suggest that Patten is very close to Cameron. Patten is currently in India, selling Oxford University with Cameron, but he has found time to pen an article about Gaza for the FT. Like Cameron, P […]
Nick Robinson's documentary on the coalition negotiations is just under four hours away, but I suspect we've already heard about one of its key moments. As various outlets are reporting this afternoon, Nick Clegg tells Robinson that he had changed his mind about the pace of spending cuts sometime before the coalition agreement. Or as he puts it: […]
What do we have here, then? Another public disagreement between Downing Street and Liam Fox? Certainly looks that way, as George Osborne assures an interviewer in India that the entire cost of Trident should be borne by the Ministry of Defence's budget. As the Telegraph reminds us, Fox suggests that the running costs of Trident should be part of the MoD […]
The machinery of British foreign policy has been transformed to accommodate a larger role for DfID; that is one reason why the aid Budget is increased. Andrew Mitchell is a canny operator, but he has a task on his hands to carry his department with him. DfID is ruled by three warring tribes. The bleeding heart tribe, who want to give oodles of cash to develo […]
Westminster has rewound the tape today, in anticipation of Nick Robinson's documentary on the coalition negotiations tonight. There's speculation about what Nick Clegg did or didn't say back in May; Anthony Seldon has a piece on Gordon Brown's side of things in the Independent; and Robinson himself has a summary article in the Telegraph. […]
David Cameron has denied misleading Conservative MPs during coalition talks with the Liberal Democrats, insisting he did not tell them Labour was offering Nick Clegg's party electoral reform without a referendum. […]
The Scottish government may have to abandon some of its most distinctive policies in the face of sweeping spending cuts, an independent budget review has concluded. […]
Employers will not be able to force 65-year-olds to retire from October 2011, the government has announced, giving older people the opportunity to continue working as long as they like. […]
China executes many more people than anywhere else. Changes to its laws may reduce a grim totalCHINA executes more of its own citizens than any other country, and more than all others in the world combined. “Thousands” of Chinese were executed in 2009 according to Amnesty International's annual study, which states that an exact number is impossible to d […]
Bosses who walked away with large payoutsON TUESDAY July 27th BP announced its chief executive, Tony Hayward, was stepping down after just three years in the job. He leaves with a year’s salary, GBP1m ($1.6m), and a pension reported to be worth GBP11m, accrued over 28 years of service. On the same day the company revealed a quarterly loss of GBP17 billion, r […]
Our latest Big Mac index suggests the euro is still overvaluedCorrection to this articleTHE Big Mac index is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP), according to which exchange rates should adjust to equalise the price of a basket of goods and services around the world. Our index shows that Asia remains the cheapest place to enjoy a burger, whi […]
Facebook has become the third-largest nationTHE world's largest social network announced that it had reached 500m members on Wednesday July 21st. If Facebook were a physical nation, it would now be the third-most populous on earth. And if the service continues to grow as rapidly as in the three months to July, it will reach one billion in about 15 month […]
Asian and Middle Eastern airlines’ share of the world’s aircraft fleet is set to growBY THE third day of the Farnborough Airshow on Wednesday July 21st, aircraft-makers had announced new orders worth around $25 billion. A whopping $9 billion order for 40 Boeing 777s from Emirates highlighted the ambitious expansion plans of the Gulf’s airlines. Analysis by A […]
Deepwater Horizon may be the world's biggest accidental oil spillPRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA meets Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, for talks in Washington on July 20th. The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and allegations over the company's involvement in an “oil-for-terrorists” deal with Libya are likely to be on the agenda. BP is under […]
Is the Tour de France getting easier?THE 97th Tour de France finishes on Sunday July 25th in Paris after 3,642km (2,263 miles) of cycling over 21 gruelling days. Although this year's route is regarded by many as particularly tough, it could be considered a mere jaunt through the sunflowers compared to earlier Tours. When the first race was staged in 190 […]
The first high street bank to launch in the UK for more than 100 years has opened its doors to customers - to a lukewarm response from industry commentators. […]
Economists have issued a fresh warning over the fragile state of the housing market as Bank of England figures showed falling mortgage approvals in June. […]