On some levels, at least, such a lead is well deserved. Labour has shown a surprising degree of discipline and unity, confounding expectations of a lapse into near civil war after the 2010 election. And at last year's conference, Ed Miliband stole a...

With most of the abusers in the Rochdale case of Pakistani heritage, and most of the victims white, the suggestion of a racial component has lurked behind much of the subsequent – justifiably appalled – commentary. The judge at the abusers' trial sa...

One thing made me cheer aloud though – and it came during that opening introduction. Hughes explained the start and end point of his 20th century (roughly 1880 to his present day) and then characterised it as a period which had left behind it "some o...

The internet has made it impossible to confine expression of opinion to the mainly tolerant cultural context liberal freedoms presuppose.At least in the short run, the problem of how safely and responsibly to affirm free speech in an illiberal world ...

“I think he was only pretending. I think he knew full well what Magna Carta means. It was a brilliant move in order to show his demotic credentials and that he didn’t have Latin bursting out of every orifice,” Johnson told LBC yesterday. The Mayor, b...

At another door, I had an extensive discussion with a teacher who was furious with Labour because of Michael Gove. I tried pointing out that Gove is a Conservative, to which he replied: “Yes, but in a Labour government.” And a week later, I was just ...

Last week, in Henley-on-Thames (I will go almost Anywhere-on-Thames), I did the Kenton Theatre, a charming, and some say haunted, little playhouse dating from 1805, which makes it the fourth or fifth oldest theatre in the country. Because it holds on...

They came after a sex offender was freed after the judge ruled his victim had been “coming on to him” – the victim being a seven-year-old girl. Credit due therefore to the Lord Chief Justice – the appropriately named Lord Judge – who marked the start...

This is what happens when a musician, usually of an indie bent, betrays his or her “roots” and gets into bed with big business. Witness Lana Del Rey, the sultry singer who emerged last summer, seemingly straight from a 1950s B-movie, with a lo-fi, fu...

Those words will prove no comfort to the families and friends of the seven British travellers who died in Nepal on the eve of a great adventure. Their devastating loss follows five previous plane crashes in the past two years in the Himalayan kingdom...

The Bill will establish safety and performance regulations to test and operate these driverless cars on California’s roads and highways. Nevada already has legislation allowing such cars on their roads.Google has a dozen driverless cars- they have be...

Who said Google Street View wasn't good?In the course of mapping the the world's reefs for Google Street View, divers found the teensy weensy Denise's pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise) in Australian waters for the first time, reports New Scientist....

The Telegraph also quotes Dr Frank Furedi, Sociology professor at the University of Canterbury, who has some interesting theories to explain the statistic. He believes the figures make sense as chore sharing takes place mainly amoung middle class, pr...

Earlier today it was reported that police were widening their search to Spain after grumbles about the level of cooperation from French authorities. In France the age of consent is 15.Chief Inspector Jason Tingley said that the French authorities hav...

While the latest round of austerity measures intended to stabilize the Eurozone generates more civil unrest on the streets of Spain and Athens, it is strange that UK headlines have been governed by Andrew Mitchell’s rude exchange with a policeman and...

“It’s a product of success,” said Townshend, speaking from his home in Richmond, southwest London. “I had experienced something creepy as a child, so you imagine: what if I was a girl of 9 or 10 and my uncle had raped me every week? I felt I had an u...

The 27-year-old will replace the famous driver Michael Schumacher next season as Schumacher retires.Hamilton has tweeted an Instagram picture of his vehicle with the words "I have the best fans in the world, some of them are here. Whether at the trac...

Witness the heartbreaking news from America this morning of a father who shot a masked man dead outside his house, believing him to be a burglar, only to discover that the victim was his son. This is so unbearable that one hardly knows how to process...

As we report this morning on independent.co.uk: "Extensive delays in cases such as the extradition of radical cleric Abu Hamza are a 'source of real fury', the most senior judge in England and Wales said today The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, said...

Here's a flavour: "The reason for the recent enforcement actions has to do with the skyrocketing growth of dispensaries, said a former U.S. Justice Department official who spoke to The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity. 'We are responding to ...

"Labour supporters, spitting expletives, vow coalition is unthinkable. But they need to think again. This is not just about cynical electoral self-interest. Even now, with so many voters having bolted, most in the Lib Dem rainbow party remain clos...

“Do you mind if I ask you a lot of dumb American questions,” Mr Letterman began, as he interviewed our Prime Minister this week on The Late Show with David Letterman.After asking the PM who composed Rule Britannia and further testing his knowledge...

That having been said, serious doubts have been raised over whether the Government's new phonics test for five- and six-year-olds – with its made-up words – is the best way to do this. It is said by teachers that some of the brightest children fail ...

Mike StroudSwanseaIn 1911 George V was privately telling ministers he thought that some of the dukes were being "very mean" in their opposition to the Parliament Bill. Similarly in 1946 his son advised the Labour Government against too hasty an imple...

Most obviously, the smoothly eroded rocks discovered by Nasa's rover Curiosity indicate the presence of water at some point in the past. Although scientists have been confident for some time that water did once exist on Mars, only now, thanks to the...