Ed Miliband's poll ratings are going from bad to disastrous at the moment. Last week his YouGov approval rating dropped to its worst ever, with just 20 per cent of respondents saying he's doing a good job, and 66 per cent saying he's doing a bad one. And today they slip even further. Again 20 per cent say he's doing ‘well’, but now 69 per cent say ‘badly’...

The figure beats the promise made last year to cut £3.2bn of 'wasteful spending in departments' as part of the coalition's £6.2bn package of cuts

The co-operative sector's umbrella body calls for taxpayers to be given mutual ownership of banks rather than shares

Scotland is in a stronger budget position than the UK as a whole for the fifth year in a row, official statistics have revealed.

I was amused to see a feature article in today's Washington Post entitled, "With executive pay, rich pull away from rest of America". Of course, it's essentially an Obama campaign ad cleverly disguised as a news feature. The article focuses on what it refers to as 'the evolution of executive grandeur' as a major reason 'that the gap between those with the highest incomes a...

Gyles Brandreth, a former Tory whip, has told how he had a war of words with former deputy prime minister John Prescott over the brightly coloured jumpers he wore during television appearances.

As a coda to Fraser’s suggestion that Cameron and Clegg are planning a merger, it is worth noting that the ubiquitous Nick Boles has renewed his calls for a formal pact. Previously, Boles averred that Liberal Democrat ministers should be protected in three-way or Conservative-Liberal marginals. This time round, his argument is more philosophical. He told Radio 4’s PM: ‘The Coalit...

Piers Corbyn not only predicted the current weather; he believes things are going to get worse, says Boris Johnson.

13 December · 19:30 - 22:30 Join Captain Ska and his crew for the launch of False Economy and his bid for Xmas number one with his YouTube sensation, Liar Liar. Together with the foot-stomping Hackney Colliery Band and global beats from DJ Jamie Renton Tickets: £6/£5 from See the Liar Liar video: Vibe Bar, Old Truman

Was at Any Questions on Friday night - a rare night out and change from my usual Friday night routine of selecting a new book to read. It was at Wallington Girls and Jonathan Dimbleby chaired Simon Heffer, John Denham, Philip Hammond and Viv Groskop (she's a Guardian journalist). Any Questions is, of course, a far more venerable programme than the more recent Question Time, which nicked the format...