Aquascutum, the 160-year-old British clothing retailer which has dressed Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother, collapsed into administration today, jeopardising 250 jobs.

There was crude electoral logic as well as moral force in Margaret Thatcher's pursuit of a "property-owning democracy". The phrase was, in fact, coined by Noel Skelton, a Tory MP of the interwar years. He felt, as Thatcher did decades later, that pride in home-ownership would infuse the working-class with conservative values, so deterring them from socialism.

Reports of deep divisions within the President’s camp as he prepares to address supporters at a rally in the heart of Paris

World View: It is too soon to know if the deaths of an Afghan family last week will alter things in Afghanistan, but some atrocities have the power to shape history

While wishing Rebekah Brooks the very best of British with her attempt to avoid standing trial for alleged bribery of police, the omens aren't so good. Before she gets too excited by her lawyer Stephen Parkinson's argument that Sue Akers' Leveson testimony about "a culture of illegal payments" is fatally prejudicial, Rebekah should talk to her her old friend David Blunkett.

The press watchdog felt it had been made a "scapegoat" over its handling of the phone-hacking scandal, the Leveson Inquiry heard today.

Justine Greening, the ambitious Transport minister, said over the weekend that she would turn up at a specially convened meeting of Network Rail's board this Friday, to register a protest vote against the £20m bonus pool its executives had threatened to award themselves.

A veteran retailer has urged the Government to reject Mary Portas's plans to save the high street, claiming many shopping streets are "in a death spiral".

Recognition of English as the lingua franca of business is spreading to management courses across Europe

Struggling tour operator Thomas Cook has reportedly suffered a near 33 per cent slump in summer bookings as its financial woes deter already cash-strapped holidaymakers.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has thrown his weight behind calls for former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin to be stripped of his knighthood.

Hedge funds with large amounts of Greek debt are reportedly planning to take the government to the European Court of Human Rights in an attempt to prevent Athens from forcing huge losses upon them.

Prime Minister David Cameron will tomorrow unveil a radical new life science strategy designed to bring industrialists, scientists and the NHS together to come up with the next generation of drug and medical technology.

Public sector workers would be allowed to down tools for a 15-minute protest without losing pay if trade unions call off full-scale strikes, a Cabinet minister leading pension negotiations has said.