Martin Hickman

Following stints with Reuters and the Press Association, Martin Hickman joined The Independent as a news editor in 2001. He became the Consumer Affairs Correspondent in September 2005 and has run the paper's trenchant campaigns on packaging, bank charges and factory-farmed chicken. He writes on subjects as diverse as food, finance, energy and fashion. With Tom Watson, he is author of a new book on the phone hacking scandal, Dial M for Murdoch - News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain.

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Nine out of ten children are happy, a report found

The kids are all right: survey finds that most children are happy

More than half of those surveyed were 'completely happy' with their friends

Surveys of local businesses showed 20 per cent less street drinking around their premises

Street disorder drops after Ipswich bans super-strength alcohol

Police say campaign stopping sale of strong cider and beer is improving safety

Consumers are being cheated 7% of the time when they buy white fish, a study has found

Cheaper fish being passed off as cod and haddock

Consumers are being routinely cheated when they buy cod and haddock, a study has found.

New research casts doubt on the wisdom of parental generosity

The secret to turning your children into savers? Don't give them pocket money

New research suggests that parental generosity is not the best way to make youngsters financially responsible

Beecher’s Brook is one of the most difficult fences on the course

Grand National jockey Katie Walsh defends race as concerns over horse deaths mount

The horses that take part in the Grand National are treated “better than some children” despite the equine death toll, a leading jockey has claimed ahead of this weekend’s race.

Waverley residents – such as those in Chiddingfold, pictured – experience the highest living standards in rural Britain, according to a study

Beautiful South wipes out Wales, Scotland and North in countryside poll of rural districts with highest living standards

Godalming sparked interest in sedate south-west Surrey in 1881 when its townsfolk became the first in the world to benefit from a public supply of electricity.

New Cumnock named Scotland's 'most dismal town' with Carbuncle award

Urban Realm magazine cites 'haemorrhaging of shops' and 'a general absence of maintenance on derelict properties' for gong

Lord Heseltine has been consulting with George Osborne on
regenerating British cities

Exclusive: Michael Heseltine fears British people are 'too rich to push' for economic recovery

Lord Heseltine believes Britain lacks drive but senior government adviser points to rising employment and house prices as signs the economy was recovering

Lord Heseltine is currently advising the Government on economic regeneration in cities

Michael Heseltine: the great survivor who's still lording it over the political jungle in his ninth decade

Martin Hickman finds that the politician still has plenty to say about the economy – and Rupert Murdoch

Websites will be subject to the new regulatory regime for the press thrashed out by politicians.

Q. When is a blog not a blog? A. When it falls under the post-Leveson regime

Then it's a news business subject to the new independent regulator

Day In a Page

National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again
Dylan Hartley: Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong

Dylan Hartley talks tough

Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong
Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

A meeting of global power brokers in a Hertfordshire hotel is exciting conspiracy theorists, but what are they really about?
'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system': Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console

'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system'

Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console
Plenty of Fish dating site founder pulls 'Intimate Encounters' option to ward off sleazy men

Plenty of sleaze

Dating website pulls intimate 'hook-up' section to curb harassment
Inferno author Dan Brown 'honoured' to be invited to join the Freemasons

The Freemasons’ Code

Dan Brown reveals the message that told him door to the lodge is open
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Nick Buckles survived the Olympics débâcle and a £5bn bid fiasco but a profit warning finally triggered his downfall
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’: Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar

How to say ‘I’m a sellout’

Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
Why clubs are keen to take a stand

Why clubs are keen to take a stand

There's a real desire around the grounds for safe standing. But will the authorities listen?
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

Disillusion with a siege mentality and negative playing style made change inevitable
James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

British driver was fascinating man whose epic duel with Niki Lauda in 1976 was typical of an era of glamour and glory – but also the ever-present threat of death