Every day things are getting worse in Syria. Today the Syrian regime started what looks like an all-out assault on the key city of Homs, reportedly killing more than 200 people. The attack took place as the UN Security Council prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar al-Assad to give up power. The problem has been the lack of information about events on the ...

Joe Kennedy always claimed he'd avoided the crash of 1929 by getting out of the market as soon as he noticed that even shoe shine boys were talking about hot shares. His logic was that as soon as everyone started piling into the market, shares prices would cease to reflect real underlying values and instead they'd bubble up right until the inevitable correction. In the same spirit, I think I see t...

‘It’s getting better. A year ago people were just panicked. Now that panic is subsiding’ says woman who has been jobless for two years

Mr John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): This is rightly difficult territory. I am relieved to hear that Ministers have reconsidered the transitional arrangements, and I am pleased that the Opposition welcome that. In the noise and heat of the debate, important truths are getting lost or ignored. We are not generous enough towards the disabled, and

Apparently, Mr. Daisey is an actor, author, commentator and playright. Perhaps I should have heard of him too. He’s getting shouty about this, saying that I’m a racist neoliberal who knows nothing about the issue and therefore I should shut up. Or something. Just as a little stylistic note: We have no idea what the

Miliband is getting the measure of PMQs. Not with respect to Cameron. With respect to himself. He’s learned that his strongest register — sanctimony — will always ring hollow unless it’s attached to a powerful cause. And his gags don’t work. So he’s ditched his team of funny men and wise-crackers and turned to his political instincts instead. Miliband’s gu...

I am currently putting together a new book for ALDC which has at its heart ways that councillors and local campaigners can make use of the new legal powers heading their way under the Localism Act and other devolving legislation. Many of the powers are very effective for getting local issues sorted and local communities

Moves in the House of Lords to amend the health and welfare bills have been getting the lion’s share of recent coverage, but this week sees a quartet of Liberal Democrat peers leading the charge on a different topic – the Legal Aid Bill. Lib Dem Lords Thomas, Carlile, Clement Jones and Phillips have a

Given that it lets the state off the hook for the current economic mess, what's radical about baiting the rich?

Liam Byrne MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has written to Nick Clegg calling for a clamp down on profiteering by private landlords.