Rave

Fortnightly collections, zero waste targets, recycling panic – the battle of the bins is raging. Our relationship with rubbish means we won't be told when or how to toss, argues John Walsh

The Government was accused of performing a U-turn on rubbish collections today after it was revealed councils will not be forced to bring back weekly bin rounds.

Government review wants household habits to continue when people step outside

In April Jenny Jackson described Lib Dem junior ministers as 'yapping dogs' in an anonymous briefing

Outlook This is turning out to be a dismal week for the housing market. Hard on the heels of warnings about a whole generation of would-be buyers being priced out of the market – and calls for limits on mortgage lending, which would only add to the problem – came yesterday's home loan figures. They show the number of people taking out mortgages is still falling.

Weekly bin collections, one of the public services most highly prized by Conservative voters, are to be rescued from the impact of public spending cuts.

Councils were facing questions about their "wild" spending after details emerged of tens of millions of pounds of expenditure on taxpayer-funded credit cards.

George Osborne has been forced to fend off doubts about his economic strategy from cabinet colleagues worried that growth is so weak. The Chancellor, who refuses to consider a "Plan B", defended his approach in a discussion on Britain's economic prospects at Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

The British Government will contribute £2.1 million towards the preservation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland, it was announced today.

Government paves way for sale of country's 300,000 allotments as plot-holders revolt over plan to scrap historic right to council land

MPs find a rude awakening on a 'problem-solving' trip to a site threatened with eviction

Although not part of the Budget, the Government announced yesterday that council tax is to be frozen or reduced in every local-authority area in England this year – the first year since the tax was introduced in 1993 that it has not increased.

The Conservative leader of Britain’s largest council faces being reported to the standards watchdog for spending thousands of pounds of public funds on a hotel suite at the Tory Party’s annual conference – even though he lives just a few miles away.