The BBC World Service will have its grant reduced, said the foreign secretary, William Hague, but added that the chances he would recommend the closure of BBC Burma were small. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images The foreign secretary, William Hague, today confirmed that the BBC World Service is facing cuts as part of the government’s spending [...]

David Cameron and his father, Ian, in April. Friends of the PM say he inherited Ian Cameron’s ‘unstoppableness’. Photograph: Johnny Green/PA The prime minister’s father, Ian Cameron, died today shortly after his son had cancelled his engagements and flown to the south of France to be at his bedside at a hospital near Toulon. He [...]

The Treasury has announced an amnesty for those owing under £300 pounds in underpaid taxes. Photograph: Martin Godwin As part of an effort to sort out anomalies in the past collection of tax, anyone who has been undercharged up to £300 in the past six tax years will have it written off, while those who [...]

Harriet Harman’s gender equality plan for the shadow cabinet was diluted by Labour MPs. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images Interim Labour leader Harriet Harman’s plan to give half the places in the shadow cabinet to women was knocked back tonight when the party’s MPs voted to make the proportion a third. In a series of votes [...]