This is shabby politics. The government has poured billions into propping up a bankrupt financial system, and only whimpers ineffectually about millions being paid out in bonus packages to bankers courtesy of the British taxpayer. But while its lavish generosity to one set of citizens seems to have ...

White, well-off middle class families still exert a stranglehold over places at the top universities, despite the millions of pounds spent encouraging the poor and moderately well-off to apply, new research reveals. Children from the richest 2% of all households, are more than four and a half times ...

In the universe of thinktanks, the Runnymede Trust (pdf) are pretty close to being good guys. They don't abuse official statistics, they often commission well-designed surveys of their own, and they frequently commission Danny Dorling, who is one of the few genuine straight-shooters working in their...

Schools that adopt an "excuses culture" and blame low exam results on pupils' poverty will not be tolerated and face an enforced change of leadership or being taken over by an academy, the children's secretary, Ed Balls, said yesterday. Academies were warned that he would not be soft on those that w...

Gordon Brown today announced plans to fund an extra 35,000 apprenticeships as he began a three-day tour intended to highlight what the government is doing to help Britain through the recession. The prime minister used a visit to a Rolls-Royce plant in the east Midlands to publicise an extra investme...

Ministers have defended the benefits system following the publication of figures today showing that 140,000 families are receiving more in benefits than the average take-home salary. Official figures show 140,000 households are receiving benefits worth a total of more than £20,000 every year. The T...

The economic crisis and the Christmas season could lead to a significant increase in the number of people who go missing, a charity has warned. The organisation, Missing People, is urging the government to change existing laws to help the many families left in limbo by a disappearance. Every year, 2...

Gordon Brown today announced plans to help borrowers who are struggling to keep up with their mortgage repayments stay in their homes. The move, announced this afternoon by the prime minister in a debate on the Queen's speech, is designed to slow the rising tide of repossessions as job losses and in...

Alistair Darling was embroiled in a row with the Tories today over opposition claims that his pre-budget report will penalise anyone earning more than £19,000 a year. The chancellor denied the claim, saying that only those earning more than £40,000 a year will end up losing out when all the tax ch...

A senior government adviser today warned that Labour's welfare reforms could push benefit claimants closer to poverty. Sir Richard Tilt, the chairman of the social security advisory committee, said the government should delay changes to the benefit system because the economic downturn was making it ...