This has to qualify as announcement of the day: Beginning now, I am providing free sexual services for rural migrant workers. This is from the blog of Ye Haiyan, also known as Liumang Yan, 'hooligan sparrow', a feminist activist in...

Open Europe picks up that former European Commission President Jacques Santer, who in 1999 was forced to resign along with the entire Commission amid allegations of corruption and fraud, has been appointed as Head of the eurozone’s ‘Special Purpose Investment Vehicle’, which aims to raise billions of euros in funding to help deal with the eurozone crisis. Yes, he'll be headi...

We have seen the government turning to pension funds as a source of capital to fuel the economic recovery through infrastructure investment. Combined with the agenda for 'responsible capitalism', it is clear that the way pension funds invest is no longer, "a minority sport", but a matter of acute national concern.

Rarely can a government have been so pleased to have been defeated. The Tories are, privately, delighted that the Lords have voted to water down the benefit cap, removing child benefit from it. The longer this attempt to cap benefit for non-working households at £26,000 stays in the news, the better it is for the government. It demonstrates to the electorate that they are trying to do somethi...

Mr John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): May we have an early debate on who speaks for England and who should make decisions for England in an increasingly devolved United Kingdom? The Leader of the House of Commons (Sir George Young): I understand my right hon. Friend’s concern. We announced on Tuesday the establishment of the West

I know this street very well. Used to work in one of the restaurants you can see up on the high pavement, at another just up the little alleyway there. Bought my flat from the estate agents you can see (upside down, when the altercation is going on) at the other end of the street.

In the wrangling between Westminster and Holyrood over the referendum there are two big issues at stake, the date of the vote and —more importantly — the number of options on the ballot paper. Salmond, as he made clear on the Today Programme this morning, wants to have the referendum in autumn 2014 and have three options — the status quo, independence and ‘devo-max’ &...

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) yesterday published a report on the impact of immigration on unemployment. But a number of cautionary points need to be made about this report.

Last night Mitt Romney became the first Republican, excluding sitting Presidents, to win both the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary. And unlike in Iowa last week, his supporters didn't have to wait until the next day to start celebrating. The exit polls were enough for Romney to be declared the winner within an hour of the voting booths closing. And now, with 95 per cent of the vote...

Now is this not the perfect metaphor for modern liberalism ? Britain's state broadcaster shifts some facilities from one part of Britain to another part of Britain, but let's not go crazy and expect them to start rubbing shoulders with the locals. Hey, some of these people have never even heard of hummus. Personally, I could almost live with the BBC making like Stanley Baker in Zulu, if only we di...