Council chief executives offer great value

Town hall bosses run complex organisations and hundreds of services yet are paid less than private sector counterparts

Blue Peter overturns children's TV ban

Broadcasters claimed that stopping under-14s from taking part in factual programmes would have sunk flagship shows

Unmasking of ‘cybernat’ exposes dark side of blog politics

SNP internet attacks have become part of political life in Scotland

Jim Murphy backs down after Tory threatens defamation action

Scottish Secretary removes article from website after threat by Paul McBride, QC

Cherie Blair: Tony’s only deputy head of household

The former PM’s wife is on a mission to champion working women, and it starts at home – so guess who gets to do the ironing?

Oligarchs hire peers to boost their prestige

Kirill Babayev has revealed how 'grey-headed' British peers can be paid to boost a firm’s image even if they do little significant work

Golden payoff for EU chiefs

Thirteen outgoing European commissioners are to receive golden goodbyes amounting to £4.5m, an average of nearly £350,000 each

alMegrahi linked to Libya’s chemical weapons

The man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is implicated in the purchase and development of chemical weapons by Libya

Taxpayer funds family's £1,600-a-week rent

Nasra Warsame, seven of her children and her mother moved into the property after Westminster council agreed to pay the rent

Darling rebuffs Brown on budget

With just 10 days until the autumn budget statement, the PM and his chancellor are battling over tax, public services and the economy

Tory Zac Goldsmith admits he is a non-dom

The green adviser to David Cameron and prospective MP avoids huge sums of tax on his estimated £200m fortune

Schools vet parents for Christmas festivities

Details will be checked against a database of people banned from working with children for sex offences and for other reasons

Cuts ground special forces’ helicopters

Helicopters used by UK troops to mentor Afghan counterparts on anti-drugs operations have been grounded to save £2m a year

Cameron shows his murky side in portrait

The portrait is remarkable for its depiction of a party leader, standing in an open-necked shirt with both hands in his pockets

Must try harder

Labour started well enough on the environment, but now its policies are half-hearted and progress is at a standstill

£3.2bn increase in funding for local councils

The Government says that it will stick to its three-year spending plans agreed in 2007 to allocate town halls £76 billion

UKIP hunter-in-chief goes for Tory jugular

Lord Pearson of Rannoch says he wants to defend Britishness and act as the conscience of the Conservative party he quit

Uganda proposes death penalty for HIV positive gays

A law that would mean those convicted of gay sex being jailed or even executed has brought protests from Britain and Canada

Labour hoping for clear path to election

Party figures predict less internal strife than in previous campaigns - when Gordon Brown was sniping from the sidelines

Downing Street outmanoeuvred in Brussels

The City could face more regulation after France took the internal market and financial services job in the EU Commission