Announcement follows row over choice of Sir Winston Churchill to appear on £5 notes in place of one of only two women selected since historical figures were introduced in 1970

"Reviewers of alternative comedy have failed to do what the rock-music press did 30 years ago: evolve a critical language to talk about a new art form." So claimed Robert Newman in 2006.

John Baron can seem like a Mafia operative offering you the sort of protection that it would be unwise to refuse

Education Secretary’s attack on lack of pupils’ knowledge not based on any academic research

Despite overwhelming evidence there is still continuing reluctance from politicians to accept just how useless short prison sentences are

War leader will replace penal reformer Elizabeth Fry, leaving the Queen the only woman on a British bank note

For him the European Court makes Stalin’s show trials look like models of justice

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

A “who's who” of the political world past and present packed into St Paul's Cathedral for the ceremonial funeral of one of Britain's most divisive figures.

George Galloway and Dennis Skinner object to plans to delay start of Commons, which would cause the cancellation of Prime Minister's Questions

It’s not exactly WH Auden’s famous “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone/Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone/Silence the pianos and with muffled drum/Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come…” But Speaker John Bercow’s gesture to the memory of Lady Thatcher comes pretty close: silencing Big Ben for the duration of her funeral tomorrow.

A senior Anglican clergyman from Baroness Thatcher’s home town has criticised the cost of her funeral – saying the decision to spend an estimated £10m of public money on the ceremony was a “mistake”.

Unite and Unison back mass action for the first time since 1926