Commentary: Cynics say free schools are greedy interlopers, swallowing up the resources which should properly go to the existing family of schools - but this has nothing to do with the facts... more
The Alternative Vote referendum is both fascinating and futile at one and the same time. Fascinating because it has the potential to split the governing coalition. Futile because the substantive issue, whether to change Britain's voting system, hasn't a hope of succeeding... more
Thousands of activists are set to descend on central London to demonstrate against the coalition Government's austerity measures on Sunday as part of the annual May Day protest... more
There was a period in the mid-Nineties when I used to cover Labour Party conferences. One of the delights was going along to the National Union of Mineworkers' rally and hearing the triumvirate of Dennis Skinner, Tony Benn and Arthur Scargill speak... more
Sketch: David Cameron was first out of the trap this morning: not yet nine o’clock and the first statement of the day calling for someone to make up their mind... more
Since the start of the election campaign, Labour has maintained that the spending cuts the Tories say could tackle the deficit and freeze National Insurance are pure fantasy. Now the Tories are doing their best to confound that claim by letting it be known in rather more detail what those cuts would be... more
How can it be right that the Reuters newswire was able to put up on its trading screens highlights from the Pre-Budget Report - in some cases, a whole minute or so before Chancellor Alistair Darling himself had actually said them?... more
Novelist Frederick Forsyth and retired military leaders pledged support for a statue of Battle of Britain hero Sir Keith Park on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth as art experts meet to consider the scheme... more
Georgia Gould isn’t the only child of a Labour dynasty making her mark in politics. Emily Hill reveals the other holders of famous names following the family tradition... more
Tina Brown reveals her thinking on the downturn and decides we are in a new "gig" economy. "Now that everyone has a project-to-project freelance career," she asserts in her website, The Daily Beast, "everyone is a hustler." ... more
Elsewhere in today's paper, you may notice possibly the most ill-advised career change since George W Bush left the oil business: I have become, for the next two days only, a sports reporter... more
A former Government minister has threatened to take a London council to court over its decision to sell school playing fields to property developers... more
Gwyneth Dunwoody, the longest-serving female Labour MP who has died aged 77, was hailed as a champion of the railways who was prepared to stand up to her own party to defend her beliefs... more
The Love Music Hate Racism Carnival is set to take over Victoria Park with a host of top acts, including Hard-Fi and Patrick Wolf, on the bill but this event is about more than having a fun day out.... more
Morning:
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