Job cuts among revenue officials meant £1.1 billion less unpaid tax was recouped than could have been, a public spending watchdog said.

Anti-cuts activists plan to block roads and hold street parties this weekend as part of a campaign to promote alternatives to austerity.

The chance of airport security queues of up to four hours cannot be ruled out during the London Olympics, the director general of the UK Border Force said today.

The transfer of Royal Mail pensions into the public sector gave the Government's finances a one-off boost today, offsetting a larger-than-expected surge in borrowing last month.

Less than a day after taking office, Greece's new caretaker government was faced with yet another credit downgrade as Fitch that warned Athens of a "probable" exit from the eurozone if pro-bailout parties failed to win new elections due on 17 June.

Couples whose relationships deteriorate with the difficulties of becoming new parents are to be offered subsidised counselling as part of a package of measures to support families announced yesterday.

Home Secretary endured sustained mocking as she sought to defend the Government’s cost-cutting agenda during a hostile meeting of rank-and-file police officers.

Londoners least likely to call in ill but divide remains between public and private sectors

Unions today stepped up demands for the Government to scrap controversial plans for regional pay in the public sector after the Deputy Prime Minister said no final decisions had been taken.

Doctors will start voting today on whether to take their first industrial action since the 1970s, in a dramatic escalation of the bitter dispute over the Government's controversial pension reforms.

Union leaders have pledged to continue organising more strikes as early as June

None should doubt the impact of the 24-hour strike by hundreds of thousands of public sector workers yesterday. Hospitals, airports, colleges, job centres, tax offices and prisons were all affected. Some 20,000 police officers clogged the streets of London.

Union leaders today warned that Britain could face a year of strikes by public sector workers if the increasingly bitter row over pensions  is not resolved.

The Government will face a storm of protest over public sector pensions, pay and jobs tomorrow when tens of thousands of workers, ranging from police officers to immigration staff, will strike and take other forms of action.