Last updated: 9/9/2010 11:23:51 AM GMT

Is our tax system fit for purpose?
Posted on September 8, 2010
Tax officials last night admitted mistakes could be found in the returns of millions more people on top of the 5.5 million they have already identified as having paid the wrong amount of tax. Read more
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    Against the Political and Constitutional Reform Bill
    Posted on September 7, 2010
    MPs are back today from their long summer recess, and the Political and Constitutional Reform Bill is right at the top of the agenda. This is likely to dominate politics for the immediate future, since it might have profound effects on how politics in this country operates.
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    New powers to block Britons from extradition
    Posted on September 7, 2010
    New powers to block extradition could be given to ministers to better protect Britons wanted by foreign courts, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. Read more
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    Blitz to be commemorated at London service 70 years on
    Posted on September 7, 2010
    A remembrance service will be held later to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the Blitz. Thousands of people across the UK were killed and injured in the series of bombing raids on cities by Hitler's forces in 1940 and 1941. Read more
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    Did Murdoch's Hacks Bug Diana, Too?
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    The New York Times’ revelations about phone-tapping at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World sound eerily reminiscent of a phone scandal involving Princess Di. Read more
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    A licence to interfere
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    The Liberal-Conservative coalition government’s proposed licensing reforms were whisked out for a brief consultation in August, which comes to a close this Wednesday (8 September). The anodyne title of the consultation (‘Rebalancing the Licensing Act’) and the rhetoric of ‘empowering communities’ are little more than pretty wrapping: the content is sinister stuff. Read more
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    Proving you’re an adult turns you into a child
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    In the UK, it is now common practice for supermarkets and other licensed premises to ask for ID from anybody who looks like they might be under-21 or under-25, depending on the policy of the company in question. This is a response to government crackdowns on under-age drinking, and is backed up with threats of fines for bar staff and cashiers. The new coalition government proposes to increase the penalty for serving under-age drinkers to £20,000. Read more
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    Girls, tattoos and men who hate women
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    Laurie Penny: The real problem with sensationalising misogyny is that misogyny is not sensational. Read more
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    The NS Profile: Michael Gove
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    Michael Gove is one of David Cameron’s key lieutenants. He has immense charm and a fascinating personal story. But is he too clever for his own good? Read more
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    • Muslim prisoners recruited in jail – new threat to UK
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    A leading British think tank claims the UK is vulnerable to terrorism as more Muslim prisoners are recruited by militants. The Royal United Services Institute says hundreds of potentially dangerous radicals will be released in the next few years, posing a big threat to national security, and authorities will have no way of identifying them. Read more
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    • Scottish independence plan 'an election issue'
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    A bill to hold an independence referendum will not be put to a vote before the 2011 elections, the Scottish government has confirmed. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told BBC Scotland the party would campaign on the issue at the Holyrood elections and "let the people decide". Read more
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    Junior doctors drop out rate nearly a quarter as EU ruling limits time spent on wards
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    An EU ruling that limits the amount of time junior doctors spend on wards during the day has led to almost a quarter dropping out of NHS training after two years, it was reported last night. And of those trainee doctors who do continue their training, more than a fifth are now turned down because they lack sufficient skills or experience. Read more
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    Dannatt fury over farce of MoD 'away day'
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    The Ministry of Defence is a “Byzantine” department detached from reality, whose officials prioritised victory in Iraq and Afghanistan only after an “away day” years into both conflicts, it is claimed today. Read more
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    Amnesty urges rethink on counter-terrorism measures
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    Control orders imposed on suspects, secret proceedings leading to deportations and the "virtually unlimited discretion" given to the police to stop and search must be abandoned in the government's continuing review of counter-terrorism powers, Amnesty International says today. Read more
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    Foreign student numbers to be cut under new visa regime
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    Ministers want to cut the number of overseas students entering Britain by tens of thousands. More than 362,000 were allowed to study here in the year to June, an increase of 35 per cent on the previous year. Read more
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    Prince Andrew's £15m mansion 'bought with tainted cash from Kazakh scam'
    Posted on September 6, 2010
    The Duke of York's former home was bought for £15million using laundered money, it was claimed yesterday. An exiled multi-millionaire has alleged that the purchase of Sunninghill Park was paid for with cash from the sale of a state-run firm in Kazakhstan. Read more
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    Shocking police brutality caught on CCTV
    Posted on September 5, 2010
    Dramatic video footage has emerged of a police sergeant dragging a women to a cell and hurling her inside, an incident which has led to his suspension. Pamela Somerville, 57, was left with blood gushing from a head wound after Sergeant Mark Andrews pulled her by the wrist across the floor of Melksham police station in Wiltshire and threw her into the custody suite. Read more
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    • Mafia cash in on lucrative EU wind farm handouts - especially in Sicily
    Posted on September 5, 2010
    Attracted by the prospect of generous grants designed to boost the use of alternative energies, the so-called "eco Mafia" has begun fraudulently creaming off millions of euros from both the Italian government and the European Union. Read more
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    Brussels plans 'treasury' for EU
    Posted on September 5, 2010
    Brussels is to push for the creation of a form of "treasury" for the European Union with powers to issue bonds and reinforce fiscal integration. Read more
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    Britain looks at Portugal's success story over decriminalising personal drug use
    Posted on September 5, 2010
    British officials are examining a pioneering Portuguese anti-drugs programme that decriminalises possession of substances including heroin and cocaine. Read more
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    'Abandoned' Duchess of York finds lucrative healing process with Oprah Winfrey
    Posted on September 5, 2010
    Sarah, Duchess of York is in talks with Oprah Winfrey about making a television programme on how she was 'abandoned' by her mother when she was 13. Read more
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    Taxpayers spend millions paying for trade union activities
    Posted on September 5, 2010
    Millions of pounds of taxpayers' money is being used by public bodies to pay the salaries of trade union officials, an investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has found. Read more
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    Quango opposes crackdown on "Mickey Mouse" degrees
    Posted on September 5, 2010
    Civil servants who allocate billions of pounds to university teaching are secretly opposing moves which would ban spending on “Mickey Mouse” degree courses. Examples include: Third World Development with Pop Music, Dance with Equine Studies,  joint honours in Waste Management and Dance, Equestrian Psychology, joint honours degree in Criminology and Pop Music Production, Geology and Popular Culture. Read more
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    Unions set out their price for backing David Miliband as next Labour leader
    Posted on September 5, 2010
    David Miliband, the Labour leadership frontrunner, must ditch his attachment to Blairite policies on privatisation and globalisation if he is to avoid splitting the party, the leader of Britain's biggest public sector union insists today. Read more
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    John Prescott furious over unrevealed link to phone-hacking scandal
    Posted on September 5, 2010
    John Prescott tonight demanded the Metropolitan police reopen its investigation into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal as the Observer revealed that Scotland Yard holds News International documents suggesting that he was a target when deputy prime minister. Read more
  • Balls enters 'phone hacking' row                 
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