'Are you knackered? I'm knackered!" laughs Joe Swift. It is 9am the Sunday before Chelsea Flower Show opens, and he's yelling down Main Avenue at Arne Maynard, a Chelsea veteran of many years. Behind the scenes here, with 36 hours to go before the Queen turns up, there is cameraderie and criticism, some dangerous forklift-truck driving, RHS assessors armed with clipboards, TV crews armed with blue ropes to mark their sightlines, and very tired people armed with rude jokes about "Diarmuid's erection" (an 80ft scaffolding pyramid of plants designed by former Grand Designs bad boy Diarmuid Gavin).

Paperback reviews of the week

A national screening programme is needed to tackle the "ticking time bomb" of liver disease caused by alcohol, obesity and hepatitis, according to a top doctor.

A mother of two who tricked friends and well-wishers into paying for her wedding and honeymoon in Aruba after falsely claiming she had leukaemia has been freed from jail after paying everyone back.

Robin Gibb was the Bee Gee with the falsetto voice who, together with two of his brothers, provided the soundtrack to some of the most joyous moments of the youth of my generation. So it was sad to hear of his death. But at the same time it is infuriating to read and hear, over and over (including, it must be said, in this newspaper) that he "has lost his battle with cancer".

What impact would it have had on more virulent cases if I'd crowed about my 'victory'?

It was a case of sex, drugs and rockeries as Ringo Starr, Roger Daltrey and Sir Cliff Richard joined other special guests to enjoy an exclusive preview of the Chelsea Flower Show yesterday.

Tens of thousands more infertile couples could be entitled to free IVF treatment on the NHS from later this year, but budget shortfalls mean many are likely to find themselves excluded.

Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi did not fit the stereotype of an international terrorist.

The 'Up' subjects are now deep into middle age, but are still an uncomfortably fascinating watch

Cholesterol-lowering drugs can benefit even apparently healthy people with no previous history of heart disease, a study has found.

A drug to treat advanced prostate cancer should be given to patients on the NHS, a health watchdog has said.

Whatever one's political affiliation, Philip Gould, who died aged 61 in 2011, should be seen as an immensely talented man. As strategic advisor to Tony Blair, he worked tirelessly for New Labour. He was a visiting professor at the LSE, and author of a book on Labour's revival. When Gould was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 2008, he was to embark on the most tumultuous yet fulfilling journey of his life.

The number of people in their 50s dying prematurely from cancer in the UK has reached a record low, new figures have revealed.