This is one of those weeks if we find out if there's anything at all left worth preserving in the Labour Party. The Royal Mail pension fund is in danger of collapse if ministers do not press ahead with plans to sell a stake to a private company, trustees say. In a letter seen by BBC News, Jane Newel...

The Martyrdom of St Yazza : "tell me you aren't ashamed at what our country has become when a middle aged muslim woman of Asian descent can be treated like this. She was questioned at length by plain clothes police officers who never once told her who they were or why she was being questioned."I lis...

This woman, using the obvious alias 'J. Smith' is wanted for claiming over £116,000 of State benefits on false pretences while working as a Secretary in the Westminster area of London. If you see her, do not approach her - she never goes anywhere without her minders. Instead, ring the number of the...

When I heard Mandelson accusing John Humphrys (audio, BBC player) - of all people - of stoking 'xenophobia', my first thought was 'he's running out of debating options - he's desperate'. You expect an accusation of racism to be the first response of, say, a Liberal blogger who's losing an argument -...

... thus far have the People's Party come. It's the 'speaking from Davos' bit that gets me !...

(photo by Ozier Muhammad for The New York Times) A feel-good Obama story - while generally the Obamarama drives me nuts, and I hate the racism and inverse racism that gave him so many votes, you can still see why these guys, who I've blogged about before, would be chuffed. Now in their 80s and 90s, ...

Anyone old than 30 years of age will remember how in the period from 1993-1997 the word "sleaze" became almost permanently attached to the word "Tory" as the Tory party lurched from one self inflicted wound to another. When I read some young Conservative blogs I just wonder how keen they would be to...

Things are moving with remarkable speed. By next week Barclays and HSBC may be in the Government's bail-out tent, while Lloyds TSB, which was meant to be coming to the rescue of HBOS, may be more than 50% state-owned. Given that most of the banks would be bust without taxpayer guarantees I don't kno...

Rafa Benitez turns every soccer neutral (as far as the title race is concerned I don't think my Baggies are quite capable of catching up) into a Liverpool supporter. The Spaniard said that Ferguson and his staff's haranguing of match officials when they leave the bench at half-time was so severe tha...

Blogging's light - too much work, alas. I'm too busy earning a living to make any money, as the saying goes. I think almost every day that our rulers can't get any more despicable. Then I pick up the paper. Hundreds of bail hostels are being opened in residential neighbourhoods without public consul...