The Scottish National party claims that Gordon Brown has changed his stance in giving Holyrood greater financial powers because of the party's surging popularity and Labour's Glasgow-East by-election defeat

Farmers and landowners warn that proposals for a £50m national hiking track along beaches and cliffs that traces the entire periphery of the UK are badly thought-out and underfunded

Many homeowners face the prospect of having a property worth less than its mortgage if house prices fall by 25-35% from their peak in 2007, City analysts say

Brendan Barber, Britain's top trade unionist, also warned Brown that he was facing an onslaught from Labour unless he reined in his government's ties with big business

English private schools are expanding into the Gulf, seeking to capitalise on burgeoning demand from wealthy expatriates and locals and keep fees down in the UK

Gazundering, where homebuyers take advantage of the housing slump to cut the price of properties at the last minute, is reaching new extremes, estate agents report

Moody's report on the performance of more than 14 mortgage securitisations suggests that home loans are worsening even among borrowers with good credit records

The Home Office and the Metropolitan Police Authority deny a report that plans were well advanced for ousting Sir Ian after secret talks involving ministers and senior officials

A leading cancer charity says the Scottish government risks creating a two-tier health system by allowing patients to supplement NHS treatment with private prescription drugs

The Bank of England held interest rates at 5 per cent amid further signs of weakness in the housing and car markets. The inaction by the monetary policy committee was widely expected

Bentley Motors, one of the world's most exclusive carmakers, is cutting production by about 15 per cent in response to an accelerating fall in global sales of its high-end cars

The prime minister admits defeat in his effort to force companies to fund a £1bn cash refund to poor families and instead focuses on a modest energy efficiency programme

The latest survey from the Halifax Building Society showed that annual house prices fell by more than 10 per cent in August as the Bank of England prepares to announce its latest interest rate decision

The initiative, launched by the mayor and police chiefs, provides the public with interactive coloured maps that show data on certain categories of crime from borough to sub-ward level

Soaring payouts by rich men to their estranged wives have helped drive the divorce rate down to its lowest level for a quarter of a century. Huge and well-publicised...

The Tory leader has set out a liberal vision in which the west should assist the development of democracy built around the customs and culture of each country

Gordon Brown has come under intense political pressure to squeeze extra cash out of Britain's energy companies to tackle fuel poverty

The glass ceiling has become more like a 'reinforced concrete barrier', with progress by women in attaining top jobs slowing to a 'snail's pace', it is claimed

The Irish Republican Army, which for almost 30 years fought a low-level insurgency against the British in Northern Ireland, is no longer a threat to security, according to an expert panel set up by the UK and Irish governments

The total number of people out of work rose by 60,000 to 1.67m during the three months to the end of June, with the figures expected to rise in the coming months

Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, yesterday talked up the likely effects of the government's package of help for the housing market. "Homeowners know we will do...

One of Britain's highestperforming private schools for boys is to take older girls, as the move away from single-sex education gathers pace. The decision by King's...

Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, yesterday unveiled a package of measures designed to breathe life into Britain's moribund housing market, as he embarked on a...

Salford's docks are being transformed into one of Europe's biggest media production centres in a striking symbol of the city's renaissance. The docks were a surprise...

Charities are bidding jointly with the private sector for the construction and running of new prisons in a significant expansion of the voluntary sector's involvement...