At this stage of any cricket tour, all anybody wants to do is go home. Of nobody is this truer in the United Arab Emirates at present than the "home" side. Pakistan have been away for too long and it is beginning to show.

England can complete a one-day whitewash today against opponents who are feeling homesick

It is "staggering" that probation officers can spend as little as a quarter of their time dealing directly with offenders, MPs said today.

Ed Miliband is "getting into his stride" after nearly nine months in his job and should not be underestimated, one of his leading allies said yesterday.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has warned against union "militancy" ahead of a planned walkout by teachers and public sector workers.

David Cameron forced Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke to change his sentencing plans over fears that prison sentences would be "too lenient" if jail terms were halved for offenders who plead guilty early.

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has indicated that a new privacy law could be introduced to provide judges with clearer guidance on issuing injunctions.

Tony Blair and Fergie doubtless bridled at news that Guy Ritchie had made the royal wedding guest list ahead of them, but – his friendship with the happy couple aside – Ritchie is an expert in the trials of married life, and amply qualified to advise Kate and Wills on the way to wedded bliss. Not only did dear Guy nobly spend eight years putting up with Madonna, but he also, it has been claimed, made a significant physical sacrifice to satisfy his Kabbalah-observing former wife. According to New York magazine, Karen Berg, a spiritual adviser to Madonna at New York's Kabbalah Centre, claims the star "keeps a kosher home, she observes Shabbat, she circumcised her son and had her [ex-] husband circumcised". Adult circumcision is a painful procedure with a surprisingly lengthy recovery period, and may go some way to explaining Ritchie's sometime fondness for sweatpants.

Baroness Warsi, the Conservative Party chairman, was accused of scoring a spectacular own goal last night in a speech about the British National Party, provoking calls from some Tory MPs for David Cameron to move her in a summer reshuffle.

Ed Miliband has been hit by a growing Labour revolt against his support for a change in the voting system as more than 200 Labour MPs and peers back the existing first-past-the-post process.

David Cameron was forced yesterday to defend his controversial claim that multiculturalism can foster Islamic extremism, after attacks from Muslim groups and Labour MPs. The shadow Justice secretary Sadiq Khan accused Mr Cameron of "writing propaganda for the English Defence League", while Muslim groups said he was attempting to "rip communities apart".