I got a reply to my Freedom of Information request about stamp duty relief for first time buyers. I asked… How much has HMRC spent in finding out if someone has previously bought a house or flat in the UK. How much has HMRC spent in finding out if someone has previously bought a house

The willingness of fans to take offence risks destroying the freedom to engage in no-holds-barred terrace banter.

At least that's what a number of sources are reporting. The rift I reported on earlier between President Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has not lessened, but gotten even greater. The chief cause of the friction is that Ahmadinejad has been seeking increased power and freedom of action while showing a disturbing tendency not to follow orders to put it mildly, and the Mullahs...

If Scotland can claim independence — and a 'geographical share' of the oil regardless of population — then why can't Orkney & Shetland? It's the Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick tonight, where men dress up as vikings and set a longship ablaze. Not a very Scottish festival, but when your nearest city is Bergen how Scottish do you feel? Laurance Reed, a former ...

So, Loma Linda, place in California where the health nuts hang out. And half the city are 7 th day Adventists. And McDonalds whishes to p[ollute the heaqlthy air of this mostly vegetarian town with a store selling burgers and the like. We know how this is going to turn out, don’t we? The freedom

I consider myself firmly in the 'against' camp when it comes to jokes alluding to rape or sexual violence, not because I'm easily offended, and not because I've necessarily been affected first-hand by either, but because I genuinely don't see how such a topic can be funny. I'd like to think that none of my friends would ever do something like that, but reality is hars...

"The Tweets must flow", Twitter declared a year ago, and quickly became an instrument of fast-moving revolution across the Arab world, coordinating mass protests in Egypt and sidestepping the state censorship in Syria. But, the microblogging site conceded that the tweets would not flow evenly in every country. The company was accused of censorship by many users and threatened w...

Reforms from President Raúl Castro have encouraged small businesses and eroded traditional structures and attitudes in unanticipated ways

Dear Jeremy, Thank you very much for your typically robust performance on BBC TV’s Question Time last night. However I wish to counsel you against using the prospect of war with Iran as a vehicle to demonstrate your resolve, and the Party’s new-found ‘establishment’ credentials. Your political future, and maybe even your personal freedom, are

I've just happened on a documentary screened on Russia TV (Freeview here in the UK), about the battle between a small Canadian farmer and Monsanto. I think the fight for freedom is no longer solely against Big Brother. Libertarians should consider Big MD/Big CEO as a major threat, especially since multinational corporations are more powerful than many governments. And I don't think I...