South Korea and America are getting ever closer to making a 'beef deal'. BBC. Gordon Brown has been told to give UK cities more elected mayors. Channel 4. Ministers are to revisit the GM debate in order to discuss whether genetically modified crops will be able to combat the global… read more…

Police had to stick their riot gear on again last night after Chelsea supporters in West London got angry about something. The Times. If you hadn't heard about it, the Crewe and Nantwich by-election takes place today. BBC. ePolitix. The suits at the UN have warned that the Beijing Olympics… read more…

Boris Johnson has sworn to do something about the spiralling costs of London's Olympic plans. The Guardian. America's House of Representatives has passed a bill to sue OPEC members should they fix oil prices. Reuters. Plans for a sixth terminal at Heathrow have been criticised as being based on 'flawed'… read more…

As metal prices increase, the theft of manhole covers is seen to be on the rise. Newsweek. Ofsted has revealed that about 20% of UK kids leave primary school being unable to read properly. The Guardian. UK house sales could drop by up to 40% this year. This is Money.… read more…

Tim Montgomerie, the editor and eminence grise of ConservativeHome, has stuck his head well and truly above the abortion debate parapet by posting two anti-abortion videos on ConservativeHome. The apparently rather expensive productions are the work of a new website, Passion For Life, which is spectacularly coy (rather appropriately) abouts… read more…

BONG! Cripes! It looks like Bojo's got his priorities in a wangle again and has been taking time out from his campaign for the mayoralty to write to a judge explaining what a jolly good chap a certain convicted criminal is (via Luke Akehurst). BONG! Take cover folks, the Westmonster… read more…

The big story this morning is that "disgraced former Cabinet Minister" (as the Guardian describes him) Jonathan Aitken has been asked by the Boy Cameron to lead a study on penal reform on behalf of the Centre for Social Justice, which advises the Conservatives on matters of policy. "Don't send… read more…

Fair Deal Phil reports on how a senior Tory has admitted that they have a mole in the Treasury. Say it ain't so! The wonderful, impartial civil servants (who are only out to pursue the common good, against the wishes of those eeeevil politicians) that the likes of Tom Bower… read more…