PMQs sketch: Decibels replace debate
Drama at the Royal Courts spreads to the Commons.Anyone short of a granddad could have picked one up at the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday where an appearance by Vlad the Impaler had been cancelled...
View ArticleObama "slow jams the news" with the Roots
President makes unusual television appearance.Last night, President Barack Obama chose an innovative way of explaining his attempts to stop Congress from allowing interest rates on...
View ArticleTen things we have learned from Rupert Murdoch
Top facts from Rupert Murdoch's evidence to the Leveson inquiry. He uses the back door of Downing Street, as "it happens to be a shortcut to my apartment." His relationship with Alex Salmond is "warm"....
View ArticleWhat Brown and Murdoch really said to each other
Brown is right about the timing and subject of the call.In the paperback of our book - Brown at 10 - Anthony Seldon and I published an extract of the call that took place between between Gordon Brown...
View ArticleCosta's expansion drives revenue boost for Whitbread
The British hotel and restaurant group's annual profit up 19.8 per cent. The British hotel and restaurant group Whitbread has reported a profit of £266m for the full year ended 1 March 2012, an...
View ArticleMorning Call: pick of the papers
The ten must-read comment pieces from this morning's papers. 1. George Osborne, the kamikaze chancellor (Guardian) Osborne has a primitive view of what makes capitalism tick, writes Will Hutton. This...
View ArticleBanks expect to pay out more than £6bn in PPI claims
Activity surges due to involvement of claims management companies.Britain's biggest consumer banks are having to increase the amount they have put aside to pay out as compensation for mis-sold payment...
View ArticleOpinionomics | 26 April 2012
Must-read comment and analysis. Double-dip time!1. Austerity bites (Economist | Free Exchange) Ryan Avent argues that austerity isn't the only driver of Britain's double-dip, and presents three...
View ArticleBarclays reports a 22 per cent rise in first-quarter profits
Trouble may be brewing ahead of the AGM tomorrow, but the bank's Q1 results were better than expected.The British banking and financial services company Barclays has reported a profit before tax of...
View ArticleMiliband on Today: the highlights
The Labour leader on private health care, Hollande and how big the state should be. After David Cameron's appearance on Monday, it was Ed Miliband's turn on the Today programme this morning. Here are...
View ArticleLost year, or lost decade?
Growth will flatline over the next year, but already things are back where they were in 2002.I wrote yesterday that it doesn't really matter that the UK is in a technical recession. The zero boundary...
View ArticleShell's first-quarter profits soar
Europe's largest oil company makes a staggering £2m per hour.The Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell has reported a net income of $8.83bn for the first quarter of 2012, a decrease of 1 per cent...
View ArticleWhat Hollande must do next
The French Socialist must clarify his mission before the second round. I haven't been following the French election with microscopic care - but it is important for the future of Europe and the future...
View ArticleUK consumer confidence climbs to a nine-month high
Morale of spenders rose in March to its highest level in nine months.The UK consumer confidence index (CCI) reached 53 in March – a nine-month high and a year-on-year rise of 7 points – according to...
View ArticleJohnston Press predicts "few daily print titles" by 2020
The media group predicts that digital audiences will grow from 10m to 20m by 2020 Johnston Press told investors this morning that it expects editorial content will be split fifty-fifty between...
View Article"Local press needs level playing field on subsidies"
"The threat to our democracy is severe", says Louise Mensch Conservative MP Louise Mensch has called on the Government to launch a review into the local press amid fears its decline poses a “severe”...
View ArticleJeremy Hunt faces three investigations over BSkyB bid
The minister claims he has acted with "scrupulous fairness". Beleaguered Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is facing up to three separate investigations into his conduct over News Corp’s BSkyB bid. The...
View ArticleMurdoch admits: there was a "cover-up"
News Corp head admits News of the World disguised phone-hacking. An increasingly foul-tempered Rupert Murdoch has made several revelations during his testimony to the Leveson inquiry. But one, more...
View ArticleExclusive: George Galloway's conversion to Islam
Jemima Khan, in an interview with the Bradford MP, reveals the background to his Muslim conversion.In a wide-ranging interview in this week's issue of the New Statesman, George Galloway MP talks about...
View ArticleHow Belle de Jour got her figures wrong
Brooke Magnanti's skewering of others' bad stats is excellent. It's a shame she isn't blameless herself.Brooke Magnanti is one of our best-known female scientists – albeit not for her research....
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