Economic experts are questioning the impact of Chancellor Alistair Darling's surprise announcement of £2.7 billion to compensate people who lost out from the abolition of the 10p income tax rate.

Police are questioning two men in connection with the murder of a man fatally stabbed in Oxford Street.

Patients believe cleanliness levels in NHS hospitals are not improving, the health watchdog has said.

"Shameless"-style parenting is becoming the norm in many parts of Britain, Conservatives will warn.

A man is being questioned by police investigating the murder of 16-year-old "gentle giant" Jimmy Mizen.

Law and order policies are not working and must be radically reformed to restore faith in the criminal justice system, a leading business organisation has said.

A life-size Lucian Freud painting of a naked Jobcentre supervisor sleeping broke the world auction record for a work by a living artist when it sold for more than £17m, Christie's said.

Ministry of Defence staff recorded sightings of alien craft over Wallasey Town Hall and a saucer-shaped Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) hovering over Waterloo Bridge, it has been revealed.

Demand for new staff has reached a four-year low, but there is no sign of a dramatic downturn in the jobs market, according to a new report.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will seek to regain the political initiative with a legislative programme for the coming year designed to show the Government is "on the side of the British people".

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