NHS regulator exposed as 'not fit for purpose' by maternity deaths

Care Quality Commission head says previous management was 'totally dysfunctional' after report reveals 'cover-up' over deaths of mothers and babies at NHS foundation trust in CumbriaThe head of the Care Quality Commission has admitted the organisation was "not fit for purpose" after an independent report highlighted key failures in its inspections at a maternity unit where police are investig

Bankers banged up? They need to return to planet Earth first | Polly Toynbee

The banking commission report takes good steps forward and makes fun reading, but can it bring a change in culture?Bang up the bankers! That has a nice ring to it, like the rioter's line in Henry VI (part two) that always gets a roar of approval, "let's kill all the lawyers". But does anyone really think any of them will land in the clink? The degree of personal recklessness would have to be

PMQs and statement on CQC cover-up and G8: Politics live blog

Andrew Sparrow's rolling coverage of all the day's political developments as they happen, including David Cameron and Ed Miliband at PMQs, Jeremy Hunt's statement on the CQC cover-up scandal and Cameron's statement on the G8 summitAndrew Sparrow

G8: what did it achieve? | The panel

On tax, trade and Syria, did the G8 countries made headway at their meeting in Enniskillen? Our panellists give their verdictCAMERON: 'He led the charge on tax avoidance'David Cameron really rolled his sleeves up (both metaphorically and literally) and got stuck in this week at the G8. It's traditional that more heat than light should emerge from summits like this, but this time round, the

Parliamentary commission on banking standards: reaction in full

Politicians and policymakers give their reactions to a major report from the parliamentary commission on banking standards calling for a new law to jail bankers for reckless misconduct, the deferral of bonuses and more measures to foster competitionA major report from the parliamentary commission on banking standards calls for a new law to jail bankers for reckless misconduct, the deferral of

Steve Bell's If ... on the Cameron-Putin G8 face-off

Steve Bell's If ...Steve Bell

Treasury told: send reckless bankers to jail

Commission led by Andrew Tyrie recommends jailing reckless bankers for and enforcing a wait for bonusesGeorge Osborne is facing pressure to radically overhaul Britain's banks by introducing a new law to jail bankers for "reckless misconduct" and force bankers to wait up to 10 years to receive their bonuses.The proposals, among the key measures recommended in a major report by the parliamen

G8 and tax avoidance: Q&A

David Cameron said Britain would use its G8 presidency to crack down on tax avoidance. What progress has been made so far?How serious has David Cameron been in attempting to tackle tax abuses? The prime minister has set out bold ambitions to "rewrite the rules on tax". He promised Britain would use its G8 presidency to crack down on big businesses and rich individuals using "an army of cle

Why Australians deserve a universal minimum income | Godfrey Moase

Godfrey Moase for Overland: I'd like to see every citizen receive a basic income of AUD$30,000 per year. No exceptions, no means testing. This is whyGodfrey Moase

Greece, ABC and Putin :The Mini Roast - video

In the Mini Roast today, a Greek court demands the return of state television, and Putin allegedly steals a $25,000 ring – such a shame, he'd been so nice up until this.• Catch the Roast every weeknight at 7.30pm on ABC2

Britain's response to the NSA story? Back off and shut up | Simon Jenkins

Snowden's revelations are causing outrage in the US. In the UK, Hague deploys a police-state defence and the media is silencedOn Monday the Guardian carried a story that British intelligence had spied on delegates at two G20 summits, those chaired by Gordon Brown in 2009. Laptops and mobile phones had been hacked, and internet cafes installed and bugged. With many of the same heads of governm

Universities urged to sponsor free schools specialising in maths

Plan supported by Office for Fair Access aims to encourage talented students from disadvantaged backgroundsUniversities are being urged by the government to sponsor new free schools specialising in mathematics, in a plan supported by the Office for Fair Access (Offa) to encourage talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds to study maths at degree level.As an incentive to open the new

Food packaging 'traffic lights' to signal healthy choices on salt, fat and sugar

Supermarkets and some food producers agree to nutritional labels but critics call for refuseniks 'to be named and shamed'Traffic light-coded food labels indicating how much fat, salt and sugar an item contains are to appear on most food that is eaten in Britain in a move hailed by health campaigners as ending shoppers' confusion over what to buy.All the main supermarket chains and some of

Pay cuts imposed on top civil servants could lead to exodus of talent – auditor

National Audit Office says reduced salaries and conditions have deterred applicants from private sector and led to gapsCuts to the pay and conditions of senior civil servants have deterred private sector managers from taking up Whitehall jobs and could result in an exodus of talent, the government's independent auditor has warned.A report by the National Audit Office concludes that there a

Jo Swinson proposes streamlined appeals system for businesses

Minister makes proposal as legal challenges delay introduction of consumer-friendly measures for businessesThe ability of big business to deploy armies of lawyers to prevent regulators from introducing consumer-friendly measures will be curbed under proposals published by the government on Wednesday.The Business minister, Jo Swinson, is proposing a streamlined appeals system for challengin

Hugh Muir's diary: we know ciggies kill, but who can resist a freebie?

The MPs who take fag ash cash to go to Chelsea• Not much by way of clarity from this coalition, so thank goodness for its decisive stance on smoking. "Smoking causes more preventable deaths than anything else – nearly 80,000 in England during 2011," says a mission statement from the Department of Health. "There's also an impact on smokers' families: each year, hospitals see around 9,500 admis

Osborne and Cameron at G8: stylewatch

Forget tax and Syria, smart-casual is tough for these guys. Cameron demonstrated yet again that for him sleeves rolled up and no jacket semaphores getting down to businessNot for the first time, the dress code has proved to be one of the trickier aspects of the G8 agenda. Style novice George Osborne underlined the dilemma with his sartorial excuse to BBC Breakfast on Tuesday. "I'm doing what

William Hague: 14-pint-sized politico

The foreign secretary boasted to MPs of influencing his family's voting aged 14. One can only feel sorry for his parentsWilliam Hague was asked about the referendum on our membership of the EU. Gary Streeter, a Tory, pointed out that the last time we had a poll on this topic Mr Hague was aged only 14 and could not vote.The foreign secretary replied: "I was only 14, although I had a big inf

Vladimir Putin may allow Assad to go if power vacuum in Syria is avoided

British hopeful that peace talks to end civil war can go ahead, but divided Syrian opposition remains a big stumbling blockThe Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is willing to see the removal of the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, but only if it leads to a balanced government and not a dangerous power vacuum of the kind that followed Saddam Hussein's removal in Iraq, British officials believe

Tax avoidance clampdown wins support of G8 leaders

G8 members persuaded to sign Lough Erne declaration, a commitment to end corporate tax evasion and clear up tax havensHe swam in the lough. He poured praise on his G8 partners.And at a closing blustery press conference by the side of the lake, he sold Northern Ireland as if it were one of the seven tourist wonders of the world. If summit hosts can be marked for effort, Cameron deserves an

Letters: The complex causes of underachievement

Sir Michael Wilshaw is no doubt correct that the next generation of EDL supporters are in today's schools (Underachievement in state schools 'creates moral and political danger', 15 June) – as are the future bankers, tax avoiders, and benefit fraudsters (though he didn't mention these). He is also right that we should "address the needs of our poorest children", though he is wrong when he says:

Big ideas can be bad ideas – even in the age of the thinktank | Mark Mazower

Forget the US model. British academics should aspire to offer more than just intellectual fig leaves for policymakersFirst there was Francis Fukuyama's The End of History. More recently, we had Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and Cass Sunstein's Nudge: for years, it seems, big ideas have been heading our way across the Atlantic. It is hard to think of many similarly catchy slogans that h

Undercover policing faces tighter regulation after Mark Kennedy scandal

New approval procedures for using spies will be required under legislation announced by minister for policingMinisters have announced proposals to tighten up the regulation of undercover police following a succession of scandals over the infiltration of protest groups.Damian Green, the minister for policing, told MPs on Tuesday that under the plans to be brought before parliament the polic

Enniskillen survivor asks Libyan prime minister to compensate IRA victims

Peter Robinson hands over letter to Libya's premier Ali Zeidan on behalf of victim of Remembrance Sunday bomb attackA survivor of the Enniskillen bombing atrocity of 1987 has challenged the Libyan prime minister to compensate the families of victims killed by IRA bombs supplied by Muammar Gaddafi.Peter Robinson, the first minister of Northern Ireland, handed over a letter from Stephen Gaul

Nigel Farage forced to cancel Aberdeen lunch due to protest fears, Ukip claims

Party's claim that itinerary was changed due to fears that demonstrations would turn ugly are denied by hotel and policeNigel Farage, the Ukip leader, has been forced to scrap half his itinerary on a trip to Scotland less than a month after he had to take refuge in a pub after being heckled and abused by demonstrators in Edinburgh.Farage had endured a torrid half-hour of abuse and heckling

Web firms pledge £1m to help block child abuse images

Culture secretary says leading internet service providers have agreed to change approach and work more closely with policeInternet service providers have signed up to a fundamental change in their approach that will involve working more closely with the police to seek out and block "absolutely abhorrent" images of child abuse, the culture secretary, Maria Miller, said on Tuesday.Leading co

David Cameron goes for morning swim prior to day two of G8 summit

Prime minister describes early morning swim in Lough Erne as ideal way to prepare for negotiating with world leadersHe came to County Fermanagh promising to talk tough on tax, Syria and more, and as if to prove his macho credentials, David Cameron rose early on Tuesday to take an invigorating swim in chilly Lough Erne.There had been speculation that Vladimir Putin, who makes a habit of tou

Man dies after falling from yacht mast during Border Force raid

Man believed to be Dutch fell from mast after customs officers boarded yacht in St Mary's harbour on Isles of ScillyAn investigation is under way following the death of a man who tumbled 40 feet from the mast of a yacht after the vessel was boarded by customs officers.The incident happened on the vessel called Windrose while it was moored in St Mary's harbour, on the Isles of Scilly.The

G8 summit: tax campaigners condemn David Cameron's 10-point 'wish list'

PM fails to get any other country at Lough Erne to back UK calls for public registries of beneficial ownership of companiesDavid Cameron's 10-point plan to tackle global tax evasion has met a hostile reception from campaigners after the prime minister failed to persuade his G8 colleagues to make any new binding commitments.The prime minister hailed the Lough Erne declaration, issued at the

Conventional wisdom: people turn Tory with age. The new trends: less simple … | Bobby Duffy and Tom Clark

Generational voting patterns have been transformed. Younger voters are flocking to both main parties as older ones turn awayPolitical parties always face the challenge of appealing at the same time to older voters, and their teenage grandchildren. It's always a tricky assignment, and engaging a sometimes alienated youth vote has traditionally been regarded as the trickiest aspect of all. Now,