Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has raised the prospect of disestablishment of the Church of England in an interview with the Christmas edition of the New Statesman (not yet online), saying that it would be "by no means the...

Thanks to the efforts of Labour Councillors, Westminster City Council is reviewing the massive 25% rent increases being asked of struggling Church Street shopkeepers, following the petition presented to the 16th July Council meeting signed by 25 Church Street shopkeepers requesting a rent freeze. Despite submitting the petition, some shopkeepers in Church Street have now received letters from the ...

No, this isn't another ball-aching post about Leonard Cohen. It is a paean of praise to our Venerable Archbishop of Canterbury who, drawing on his experience as a priest and a bishop of the disestablished church in Wales, has said: ...it would not be the end of the world if the established church disappeared. What's more, in an interview with this week's New Statesman, the Archbish argues

Labour Westminster Councillors have stepped up their campaign for Westminster Council to acquire the long-vacant car park site on the corner of Edgware Road and Church Street and to promote a mixed development, including new social housing for families in the Church Street area in housing need. Labour say that this long-derelict site could provide scores of new homes for local residents instead of...

Council refuses to freeze rents for hard-pressed shopkeepers despite claiming to have an 'economic recovery plan'. Labour's Church Street Councillors Barbara Grahame and Aziz Toki have condemned Conservative-controlled Westminster City Council for increasing shop rents by 25% at a time of tough economic conditions. The Council has rejected a petition from Church Street traders to fr...

With the Coalition facing its first major test, it is easy to forget that there is a Labour leadership contest going on. But there are two interventions in that race worth noting this Bank holiday weekend. First of all, Jon Cruddas and Jonathan Rurtherford have anessay in the New Statesman  sketching out a ‘new covenant with the electorate.’ It would be based around the ideas of a...

Conservative Council candidates in Westminster's Church Street ward have ditched their support for their parliamentary candidate in a last-gasp effort to shore up their declining support. Voters in Church Street Ward have told Labour canvassers that the Conservatives have been trying to persuade voters to vote Conservative in the Council elections by telling them, "we know you are going to vo...

New Statesman have sent over this press release Geoffrey Robinson MP is delighted to announce that Mike Danson, founder of Datamonitor, is the new owner of the New Statesman magazine. In April 2008, he acquired 50 per cent of the New Statesman from Geoffrey, who had been sole proprietor since 1996. He has now, with Geoffrey’s agreement,

We'll be feeding you the very lastest on the Speaker contest, as it happens. Nico Hines will be picking up breaking news and whisperings in the corridors of Westminster, while Daniel Finkelstein and Hattie Garlick will be plugged into the...

The Church of England today voted overwhelmingly in favour of banning clergy from belonging to the British National Party . On the second day of the General Synod, the legislative body that meets twice a year, more than 300 of the 418 members gathered in Westminster endorsed a motion asking the House of Bishops to keep BNP members out of the church. The members wanted a policy similar to that adop...