Alan Johnson says he considered running for London mayor and hints that he could seek the job in 2016. ...

The Prime Minister, whose son Ivan died in 2009, sent a hand-written letter to Paula and David Holmes, from Lancashire, (pictured) after their 10-year-old daughter Katy died of cancer in January. ...

The royal two boarded the unusual amphibious vehicle - which can drive on land and float on water - in Liverpool's city centre before taking a monorail tour of Chester Zoo. ...

Sam Hallam, 24, (pictured) from Hoxton, east London, was just 18 when he was jailed for stabbing to death ‘Good Samaritan’ Essayas Kassahun as he tried to rescue a friend from a gang of thugs. ...

Social care minister Paul Burstow has suggested staff could soon be asked to cut down on isolation among older people by reviewing their leisure activities. ...

She has invited Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge along with Prince Harry, to join her on the Royal Barge. ...

Gurim Pajova, a Kosovan refugee who was driving without a licence or insurance, failed to negotiate a bend on a narrow country road following an all-day drinking session. ...

University of Hamburg scientists carried out scanning studies which showed how a distracting memory test blocked incoming pain signals. ...

The National Audit Office, says the projected loss of Northern Rock reflected the fact taxpayers should have been better rewarded for pumping their money into the failed bank. ...

Just two days after delegates heckled Theresa May over police budget cuts (pictured), Freedom of Information requests show at least 176 officers are carrying out duties only for the Police Federation. ...

Asking taxpayers and child benefit recipients to reveal information to their partners is legal, HM Revenue & Customs says, despite claims it breaks confidentiality rules. ...

The UK agrees a £50m trade deal to sell British pork to China, the world's biggest market for pig meat. ...

Dieting in pregnancy is safe and does not carry risks for the baby, a review of research has suggested. ...

Marc Kirvin, 46, grabbed the bag from the ground and just four minutes after Sawari Ashraf, 62, stepped into the path of a 40 tonne lorry in Manchester in March. ...

The 28-year-old has already approached the family court in Aurangabad, India, seeking divorce saying that she can not trust him after her failed to announce their marriage on the website. ...

High profile reinvention queens such as Victoria Beckham have influenced everyday women, with an estimated 3.5m changing their own look after seeing celebrities do the same. ...

The £3.4million NHS Information Service for Parents sends regular texts or emails with timely information to parents, which will include information about how a baby is developing, childcare options and benefits. .. ...

The flame stayed lit despite a rain-hit ceremony and was handed over to a London delegation including David Beckham, Boris Johnson and Princess Anne. ...

Yale University Research suggests that women who talk too much in the office are seen as less competent than their quieter peers. But men who tale more are seen as better at their jobs. ...

Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London, said helping women with ‘weight management methods’ had no ill-effects on their babies and prevented complications including diabetes and high blood pressure ...

A court heard when her hour-long ordeal ended, Daniel Pytlarz, (pictured) from St John's Wood, London, offered her a loyalty card, saying: ‘I hope you don’t mind what happened.’ ...

The Royal Mail have revealed today that extra congestion caused by the games will cause some post to be delivered later than usual. And a £1 charge will also be introduced by Parcelforce for delivering to parts of L ...

The move comes after the prosecution of a police patrol officer for dangerous driving even though no complaint was made about his driving and no members of the public were injured. ...

Dozens of subjects such as leisure and tourism, hospitality and catering face being stripped of their GCSE status in an attempt to protect the ‘brand’. ...

The song Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber have created for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations - featuring Prince Harry on tambourine - is to get its first airing on Radio 2 later. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron will tell leaders of some of the world's biggest economies on Friday that they must work together to stop the economic crisis afflicting the euro zone from spre ...

David Cameron insists Britain must not drop its austerity measures, but has suggested easier credit might boost the economy. ...

After weeks of protest from church leaders and Conservative MPs, Chancellor George Osborne said he would offer 100 per cent compensation for places of worship hit by the so-called ‘heritage tax’. ...

As new government advice is announced for parents on changing nappies, breastfeeding and "baby talk", the Minister for Public Health and the National Childbirth Trust explain why the information might be valuable. ...

New parents will be given government advice on changing nappies, breastfeeding and "baby talk" under a multi-million pound initiative to support family life. ...

Britain must face up to a "day of reckoning" as the recession combines with high energy and food prices to lower standards of living, a Cabinet minister has said. ...

Britain must face up to a "day of reckoning" as the recession combines with high energy and food prices to lower standards of living, a Cabinet minister has said. ...

Rising numbers of pupils face failing their GCSE exams under the biggest shake up of the qualifications system in 25 years, it emerged today. ...

A Shetland trawler catches what experts believe could be the largest oyster ever found in the UK. ...

Peter Hain says the dropping of contempt of court proceedings against him for criticising a judge are a "victory for free speech". ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's climate policies can help shield the economy from oil and gas price shocks triggered by external factors such as the Arab Spring, an analysis commissioned by the government showed on Friday. ...

Thieves targeted the River of Life memorial in Warrington, Cheshire, which was put up to commemorate the lives of three-year-old Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry, 12 (pictured). ...

Thieves steal a metal plaque commemorating the deaths of two young boys killed by IRA bombs in the Cheshire town of Warrington. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - UK taxpayers could lose up to 2 billion pounds from the government's 2008 rescue of mortgage lender Northern Rock by the time all the assets are wound down, according to the country's spending watchdog ...

ALEXANDER BOOT: If the Government acts on its threat to raise the minimum price of an alcohol unit, the British tradition of buying a round will soon die out. Worse, people will look for alternatives. ...

Lib Dem MP Danny Alexander fretted about his messages from Deputy PM Nick Clegg confiding: ‘Every text message started with OMG...code in the Clegg household for “On Miriam’s Guidance”.’ ...

QUENTIN LETTS: What a tidy operator Mark Harper is. Safe. Neat. Buzz-cut hair. Clean fingernails. He is the Deputy Prime Minister’s Conservative junior. ...

Yesterday the Chancellor pulled his head out of the sand and, along with the Prime Minister, conceded the eurozone could disintegrate after all – with potentially catastrophic consequences for Britain. ...

TOM UTLEY: A survey finds this week that almost 19 million people have stopped hosting these gruesome ceremonies because of their crippling expense in this age of austerity. ...

SONIA PURNELL: The lack of substance in Boris Johnson’s campaign – and his silence since - leaves us largely in the dark as to what he intends to do over the next four years. For London at least. ...

JAN MOIR: Prince Philip’s latest jaunt on the blunder bus took place this week on a walkabout with the Queen in South London. All was going well until HRH spotted Hannah Jackson in a red frock with a zip up the fro ...

Lance Corporal Michael Pritchard, 22, (pictured) was killed while guarding a road in the Sangin area of Helmand Province after fellow British soldiers mistook him for a Taliban insurgent. ...

Prime minister launches Can Parent initiative to offer guidance and says he will push for childcare tax breaksParenting classes should be taken as seriously as driving lessons, David Cameron will declare as he announces ...

National Audit Office raises questions about Treasury decision to split the Newcastle-based bank in two in 2009Taxpayers face losses of at least £2bn on the continued state ownership of Northern Rock, the National A ...

Fees to access maintenance collect by replacement to Child Support Agency also penalises women, says committeePlans to charge single parents for access to the replacement for the Child Support Agency could worsen child p ...

Criminal Bar Association head accuses government of duplicity as he warns of action that hit courts across England and WalesThe head of the Criminal Bar Association is to raise the spectre of strike action by criminal ba ...

The taxpayer could lose about £2bn once the assets of collapsed bank Northern Rock are wound down, the National Audit Office estimates. ...

A major search has been under way to find a fishing boat missing with a crew of three off the Dorset coast. ...

Private rents in England and Wales went up by 0.5% in April, according to letting agency group LSL Property Services. ...

National arts agency Creative Scotland's new strategy after suffering £2.1m budget cut raises fears of a drain of talentDozens of Scottish arts companies and art centres are facing deep funding cuts and job losses u ...

Savoy, LondonAmerica's Danny DeVito and Britain's Richard Griffiths join forces in this joyous revival of Neil Simon's 1972 comedy about a pair of superannuated vaudevillians. But what makes the play profoundly touching ...

Azerbaijan may score nil points on human rights, but according to the wonderful world of PR, Eurovision's got the solution

One of the Coalition's most senior Liberal Democrats has raised eyebrows by joking that Nick Clegg starts his text messages OMG - or On Miriam's Guidance. ...

David Cameron's closest adviser could have "brought a cake" on his last day in the job instead of arguing for £25 billion of cuts to the welfare budget, a senior Treasury minister has suggested. ...

A unit of "non-compliance" officers have been sent out on to the streets to speak to people who have not filled out their census forms. ...