Fears of a Ukip surge at local elections must not make David Cameron tack to the right on Europe, says former commissioner

At a breakfast event at the top of the Gherkin this week, Julia Hobsbawm set a new benchmark.

Party likely to deprive Tories of victory in many seats, fuelling fears about their prospects in 2015

Ken Loach DVD/Blu-ray (92mins)

Miliband may need five symbolic cuts to convince that he means business on the deficit

Richard Benyon, the minister responsible for food, was given an idea of what it would be like to be pelted with rotting vegetables yesterday after remarks that he made in the Commons were all over the front of the Daily Telegraph. Coming on the same day that he was identified as Britain’s richest MP, with an estimated fortune of £105m, it did not look good that he was apparently telling families that a bit more care about managing their fridges and keeping perishable food properly wrapped would help them through these times of austerity.

We could see where Philip Davies,  attack dog of the Tory right and scourge of all things BBC, was going with his enquiries, of course. Given that the Question Time audience were supposed to reflect the local community, how would political balance be ensured if the programme was airing in what he clearly saw as the left-wing People’s Republic of Bethnal Green and Bow? 

With no launch date in sight, company is set to be a costly ‘white  elephant’, say critics

Radical feminist publication Spare Rib is to be relaunched as a glossy magazine and website as feminist alternative to “PR and celebrity-filled women’s” publications, according to reports.

Jemima Khan, daughter of Sir James Goldsmith, who was arguably the stroppiest multi-millionaire of his generation, has met a lot of characters, from Nick Clegg to Julian Assange, but her encounter with Peter Mandelson, the old Labour spin master, was evidently of a different order.

David Cameron has made a pitch to the Tory right after he raised the prospect of temporary withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights in an attempt to deport the extremist preacher Abu Qatada from Britain.

Air Chief Marshal joins the Order of the Garter, whose members usually include former PMs

When David Cameron said in a radio interview that he did not use Twitter because “too many twits might make a twat”, at least he had the excuse that he did not know what the word meant. It was explained to him afterwards by his press secretary Gabby Bertin, and he duly apologised.

Moves to cut the number of court cases that are strung out by people applying for judicial reviews of decisions will be announced today by the Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling.