That's how I felt when I heard that the budget due in two weeks was not going to be a "big give-away". The news came from no less an authority than the chancellor himself - speaking tonight to my BBC colleague Hugh Pym. Given that the government is legally committed to making £57,000,000,000 worth of tax rises and spending cuts to deal with Britain's budget deficit, only the econom...

Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister, wants a European monetary fund to be backed by tough sanctions to enforce budgetary discipline, with countries facing expulsion from the eurozone "as a last resort"

A female pornographic film director is selected as the Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidate for Gravesham, Kent.

Wall Street is "allergic" to proposed reforms to the vast over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets but regulators will continue to insist that use of such complex financial instruments be made more transparent to avoid another financial crisis, Gary Gensler, chairman of the US futures regulator

Bonus payments to Scottish civil servants have doubled since 2006 after new figures showed they are on course to be handed £2.6 million this year.

Labour's child-care policies are formulated by women who are out of touch with reality, argues Cristina Odone.

The higher education minister has told universities to compensate for a future dearth of government funding by bidding aggressively for the billions of dollars that Barack Obama has pledged for research

Party faithful could have key role in determining policy if the general election produces a hung parliament. The constitutions give left-leaning activists considerable clout, particularly when it comes to deals with minority governments

Si, se puede Obama! A group of Hispanic lawmakers on Thursday will tell President Barack Obama that they may not vote for healthcare reform unless changes are made to the bill’s immigration provisions. The scheduled meeting comes as Democratic leaders and the White House are struggling to craft a final bill that will attract 216 votes in the lower chamber. Unlike abortion, immigration has fl...

Whatever else may or may not be true of Harry Cohen MP, he was the subject of one of my favourite political insults. It came from Norman Tebbit: The Honourable Gentleman would have made a fool of himself, if God...