Darling accused of ‘ducking the challenge’

The Chancellor has given the Government six years’ breathing space before it has to start reducing its total debt

Armed Forces face cutbacks amid MoD jobs threat

Cuts in defence budget threatened as Chancellor excludes the Armed Forces from his list of top-priority spending plans

Science that kick-starts business ‘is put at risk’

Scientists say £600m research funding cut will undermine iniative supporting businesses that take British discoveries to market

Ireland unveils budget cuts of €4bn

The Finance Minister said that the corner had been turned and that people would not suffer such a punishing Budget again

Twitchy Sarkozy is losing some of his gloss

The French President is going through one of his anxious phases as he sees regional elections as a personal test

Now the Conservatives can dare to be different

Alistair Darling did George Osborne a favour with his report, but his likely successor will probably not see it that way

Poor nations attack UK plan to raid aid funds

Developing countries are angry at a British proposal to shift money for schools and health to solar panels and wind farms

Investigation into claim Salmond misled Parliament

George Reid and Baron Steel of Aikwood are to examine opposition claims that Alex Salmond misled Parliament over primary class sizes

Immigration centres ‘ignore children’s pain’

There is a lack of basic care at centres where families with children can be held for weeks, medical royal colleges say

MSPs vote for early powers before election

Holyrood backs the SNP's call for powers over airgun laws, drink-driving and speed limits to be handed over immediately

SNP looks set to copy cap on public pay

Government lambasts "damaging" and "reckless" Pre-Budget Report but hints it will freeze pay of public sector workers

Scotland will lag behind rest of Britain

Economists believe that the lack of clarity on tax and spending plans for 2011 leaves Scotland outlook highly uncertain

Darling 'putting false gloss on growth figures'

Analysts say Chancellor massaged his economic growth forecast to make his public borrowing figures add up

IN DEPTH: smoke and mirrors

The Times looks behind Alistair Darling's words to judge whether the Chancellor's pledges are realistic

Clampdown on stamp duty avoidance

The new measure is designed to 'close a loophole and bring all residential properties worth more than £1 million into line'

Population boom is a 'spectre', says Johnson

Home Secretary attacks statistics body for 'terrorising' Britain with projection that country will have 70m citizens

Bercow withholds expenses 'league table'

Committee chaired by Speaker elected on transparency ticket postpones tables showing which MPs spent the most

Unions vow to oppose public sector pay cap

Health care assistants, social workers and cleaners earning under £17,000 could suffer from pay cuts

Darling sticks by pledge to halve deficit

Chancellor restates aim to cut the public deficit in half by 2013-14, adding that it is not time for a spending review

Chancellor deploys stealth tax and pay cap

Alistair Darling to cut debt with 0.5% national insurance rise, public sector pay and pension cap and bank bonus supertax