Councils were faced with a four-fold rise in applications for a housing hardship fund in the month after the so-called “bedroom tax” was introduced, figures show.

The Attorney General Dominic Grieve blocked the publication of letters from the Prince of Wales to MPs

Woman had been pronounced dead by medical staff and parents had agreed to donate her organs

Three High Court judges have refused to overturn a decision blocking the disclosure of correspondence written by the Prince of Wales to Government ministers, as they believe it could undermine his ability to fulfil his duties as King.

MPs with children have been given permission to claim higher expenses. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) said it was allowing almost 150 MPs to claim more in order to rent larger properties and pay for children’s travel.

Police officers with the elite force that guards Britain’s nuclear power stations have been caught drunk, using drugs, misusing firearms and also accused of sexual harassment and assault.

Ministers will consider a ban on the use of face-down restraint in English mental health hospitals after new figures that show nearly 40,000 incidents of physical restraint were recorded in just one year.

It is the most miserable day of the week, a return to reality from the elation of the weekend. To compound Monday’s reputation problem, new figures indicate it is also the day when people are most likely to have their mobile phone stolen – with skint thieves who have spent their funds over the weekend to blame.

Department of Health civil servants met lobbyists from the cigarette manufacturer Imperial Tobacco before the Government shelved proposals to introduce plain packaging laws this week, it can be revealed.

Nearly 3,000 children placed in care were repeatedly running away last year, with one able to go missing a total of 67 times in twelve months, figures released today reveal. The news raises fears about the vulnerability of children to child sex grooming gangs preying on the care system, such as those which operated in Rotherham and Rochdale.

Children born in the month of October are 30 per cent more likely to become Oxbridge undergraduates than those born in July, it was revealed yesterday.

Was there really a time when you could walk into your local boozer, order three pints of Youngs for you and your mates, and settle up with the words, “Put it on the slate, Charlie”? Did we dream that you could run up wine and whisky bills on credit? No we didn’t – but it seems there’s only one place in the UK where, today, a request for credit is not met by a smack in the mouth. It’s the House of Commons.

Ethnic minority applicants to some of the most competitive courses at Oxford University can be up to half as likely to gain places as white students – despite having the same top A-level grades.

There was good news for our columnist Owen Jones in the disclosure of MPs' most borrowed books from the House of Commons library; his Chavs makes the Top 10. Also included on the hot list, more worryingly, were How to be an MP and How Parliament Works.