Yesterday bgprior asked, in the comments to my post about scrapping targets, why did this announcement come from Treasury? And well he might, it seems the department it concerns is playing a different tune. Ed Balls (Secretary of State for…

Government The new Children, Schools and Families Secretary set himself on a collision course with the teaching establishment yesterday by pledging that national testing and school league tables were here to stay. Despite growing pressure…

Government   Jack Straw has told MPs they have a chance to "finish the job" of reforming the House of Lords, while ruling out legislation in this Parliament. Giving a statement to the House of Commons, the lord chancellor proposed further…

So TfL are going to pile in £750m worth of public money to the tube network to stop it grinding to halt as a result of the collapse of Metronet.  Tim O’Toole (MD of LUL) has said he expected the taxpayer to plug any financial gaps left by…

**Government  ** A bonfire of government targets to ease red tape affecting schools, hospitals and town halls will be ordered tomorrow as part of a sweeping reform of public services, the Guardian can reveal. Most of the 110 Whitehall…

Has the government picked two winners in a day, today?  Not really - but they may have at least made a u-turn on two losers that, for many, symbolised the Blair era. Firstly, Andy Burnham (the chief secretary to the Treasury) has told the…

**Government ** The work and pensions secretary has set out plans to further reduce unemployment. Peter Hain told MPs on Wednesday that lone parents will be required to seek work when their youngest child reaches the age of seven from…

Following my post on the story in the News of the World about a couple (Sean and Chloe Ash) who have been driven apart by the benefits system, someone has posted a reply in the name of Sean Ash, wanting to put the record straight. Of course…

Yet another story of long foreseen disaster that the goverment did nothing about and now the tax payer is likely to pick up the bill.  Metronet, the failing infrastructure company that is responsible for maintenance on all but three of the…

**Government  ** The government has unveiled plans to abolish regional assemblies and give more power to local authorities and regional development agencies. Communities minister John Healey told MPs that the government wanted to scrap the…

**Government  ** The government should reconsider its decades-long ban on sending Britons into space, MPs say. They warn that an outright rejection of human space flight could lead to the UK being unable to take part in future international…

Did you know that: yesterday's earthquake in Japan caused a fire, spillage of radioactive liquid in to the sea, and a complete shutdown at the Kashiwazaki nuclear power station? there have been two accidents in the past month, causing…