Was it more a case of drowning their sorrows than celebrating? Some of the top names in London's French banking fraternity were out in force at an autumn champagne reception thrown by BNP Paribas at the Saatchi Gallery on the King's Road... more
Britain faces the biggest outbreak of industrial strife since the 1926 General Strike after unions representing millions of workers announced strike ballots ... more
The PM's vision for a Big Society bank has become a reality, with the first investment set to help disadvantaged young people into work or education... more
David Cameron is in danger of losing one of his closest and most senior allies at No10 amid Tory jitters that the Coalition is retreating from truly radical policies... more
Ministers have sought to allay fears that thousands of public sector workers will opt out of new pension schemes when they are forced to pay higher contributions... more
It took Labour took 12 years to figure out ways to squeeze cash from government property; ways seemingly adopted by a Coalition desperate to save billions... more
The smell of singed fingers accompanied by screams of f***! echoed around trading floors today. It was the shorters, getting painfully burnt on retail... more
An epidemic of long-term illness is plaguing the heart of the Government, the Standard can reveal - on the day that David Cameron vows to crack down on Britain's 'sick-note culture'... more
Here's a loud message from the ad industry to the Tories: the single biggest client winner at last night’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Effectiveness Awards was the Central Office of Information... more
Salaries of 4,000 of the highest-paid civil servants went online this afternoon, revealing payments of more than £200,000 for the highest earners... more
Nick Clegg suffers his biggest backbench revolt yet as eight Liberal Democrat MPs refuse to back rushing through a Bill to cut redundancy pay for civil servants... more
Ring, ring. Finsbury, Roland Rudd’s PR firm, is on the line with an (increasingly common) request that is somewhere between cheeky and downright rude... more
David “Two Brains” Willetts' commercial career has been somewhat less than stellar, while Francis Maude may be embarrassed by his entrepreneurial efforts... more
After every Budget for the past five years, I've written a piece about one of Gordon Brown's allegedly favourite ideas - the social investment bank... more
At least 28 prospective Conservative candidates in winnable seats are working in the lobbying industry, according to the results of an investigation... more
Ministers were today urged to end the "sicknote" culture among public sector workers after new figures showed that absenteeism is costing the taxpayer a record £3.8 billion a year... more
Senior Conservatives are holding an urgent review of the Ray Lewis affair in a bid to protect David Cameron from similar scandals if he wins power... more
Exclusive: After high-profile allegations this season, Charlton's manager is pleased the issue is now being addressed but says the authorities still have plenty of work to do
Morning:
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