A question thrown up while MPs were arguing over gay marriage is whether fundamentalist Christian teachers should have a legal right to propagate creationism in the classroom. This cropped up while opponents of gay marriage were fighting a rearguard action to ensure that any religious group or individual with a religious objection to gay marriage was protected from anti-discrimination law.

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Independent Crossword

Andy McSmith's Diary: United they stand... not to mention stepping on toes

The original purpose for which the trade unions created the Labour Party was to get working-class representatives into Parliament. The old engineering union, the AUEW, which has now been absorbed in Unite, had a particularly strong record for taking members off the factory floor, training them up and getting them into Parliament.

Labour peer Lord Ahmed has been suspended by the party

Labour peer Lord Ahmed resigns from party over alleged anti-Semitic comments

The senior Labour peer Lord Ahmed resigned from the Labour Party on Monday evening over allegations that he made anti-Semitic comments in a television interview.

Cameron must show how arming Syria's opposition would secure a lasting peace

Neither arming the rebels nor military strikes can guarantee peace in a country where sectarian, tribal and democratic impulses are all present

Ed Miliband will reject calls for Labour to promise a referendum on the EU

Ed Miliband to rule out promise of a referendum on Europe

Ed Miliband will today reject calls for Labour to respond to the rise of the UK Independence Party (Ukip) by promising a referendum on the European Union.

Andy McSmith's Diary: If David Cameron's relaxed, he
doesn't know his history

David Cameron may be “relaxed” about having some of his backbench MPs table an amendment to the Queen’s Speech that will call for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union but, strictly speaking, it is nothing to be relaxed about.

Sir Bernard Howan-Howe explained in his letter that it was the first time agency workers had been used as part of the investigation

Yewtree police set aside £240,000 to hire ex-officers as private detectors to deal with flood of Jimmy Savile allegations

Police “struggling to cope” with a flood of allegations resulting from the Jimmy Savile scandal have set aside £240,000 to hire former policeman as private detectives, it has been revealed.

The News Matrix: Friday 10 May 2013

Wanted US fugitive built new life in Kent

Iain Duncan Smith criticised for 'unsupported' claims on success of Government welfare reforms

Iain Duncan Smith faced embarrassment after he was chided by the statistics watchdog over claims he made trumpeting the success of a Government key welfare reform.

Andy McSmith's Diary: £300 a day, just for turning up. Not bad work if you can get it...

Lord Hanningfield, the trougher in ermine, has extracted another wodge of cash from the public purse. The latest published list of expenses from the House of Lords shows that Hanningfield, who has done time in jail for fiddling expenses, claimed £3,600 in attendance allowances in December, lawfully this time.

Stewart Jackson has refused to pay the £54,000 that Ipsa claims he owes on his home

Expenses watchdog to sue Tory MP over house price gain

Stewart Jackson has refused to pay the £54,000 that Ipsa claims he owes on his home

Cyclist Ella Phillips was helped by Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband my hero: ‘Action Man’ Labour leader rescues injured cyclist

They have called him a geek; they called him Red Ed. They have noted his resemblance to the jug-eared hero of Wallace and Gromit. But never in his 43 years has anyone cast Ed Miliband as “Action Man” – until now.

Private firms and charities will be rewarded on a 'payments by results' basis and judged by reoffending rates

'Risking public safety': probation chiefs vent fury at 'payments on results' private sector shake-up

Senior probation officers have accused the Government of "taking risks with public safety" by pressing ahead with an overhaul of offender rehabilitation which will see services outsourced to the private sector.

Donald Macintyre's Sketch: A bejewelled, bemedalled, boring panto, starring Sir Alex Ferguson

Consternation! Twitter storm! Chris Grayling, or “Lord High Chancellor” to give him his Mikado-esque title, turned his back on the Queen! 

French ministers refuse to attend conference with Islamic scholar who teaches at Oxford University

He is an Islamic scholar who teaches at Oxford University and a former member of a working group on extremism set up by Tony Blair. Time magazine once described him as the “leading thinker” among Europe’s second and third-generation Muslim immigrants.

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A meeting of global power brokers in a Hertfordshire hotel is exciting conspiracy theorists, but what are they really about?
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'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
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The Freemasons’ Code

Dan Brown reveals the message that told him door to the lodge is open
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How to say ‘I’m a sellout’

Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
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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
Stuart Hogg: Ready to climb his own Everest

Stuart Hogg: Ready to climb his own Everest

Lions' cub, 20, joins long line of players from Scottish borders club Hawick given opportunity to make his mark at highest level
Carl Froch handed rare chance of revenge with dream rematch

Steve Bunce on Boxing

Carl Froch handed rare chance of revenge with dream rematch against Mikel Kessler
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Masculinity in crisis?

'There is a battle going on inside us that is never discussed'
Have US shock jocks gone too far?

Have US shock jocks gone too far?

An incendiary remark from Rush Limbaugh may be the beginning of the end for outspoken right-wing US broadcasters
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Elmbridge pays more income tax than big cities of the North
Heavenly Bodies

Heavenly Bodies

Michael Landy's artistic marriage made in heaven... and hell