Crime rates are expected to soar as the economy deteriorates. The Guardian. Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have decided that England should borrow its way out of the economic crisis. The Times. Al Gore has challenged Americans to give up fossil fuels within the next ten years. BBC. Plans for… read more…

David Cameron has called for U.S. style bankruptcy rules in a bid to protect the economy. The Times. US car firm General Motors has revealed that it is to cut jobs due to decreased sales. BBC. It looks like knife crime may not be just an English avocation but one… read more…

Three story-shaped nuggets that are either joyful, woeful or ... erm ... madful. GOOD Britain is doing its bit for diplomatic relations by trying to defuse tension with Russia over the Alexander Litvinenko case. BAD Further depressing signs for the global economy - massive banking organisation IndyMac has been… read more…

Gordon Brown has described his job as being the 'best in the world', suggesting that the nervous breakdown we were expecting may not be about to happen. The Guardian. The PM has also hinted that his plans for a 2p rise on fuel duty may be abandoned. The Guardian. The… read more…

Boris Johnson has been forced to launch an investigation into the inappropriate dealings of his deputy mayor, Ray Lewis. The Guardian. A report by Ernst & Young suggests that the average UK household is 15% worse of than five years ago. BBC. The British economy could be falling into an… read more…

The economy has been big news of late - or rather the shivering, frail, wheezing husk of a thing that was once labelled an economy. Rising fuel prices, soaring energy bills, increased general cost of living ... there are more ominous stormclouds than Alabama tornado season, and right now… read more…

Ethical shopping is all the rage nowadays, with literally every self-respecting middle-class Stoke Newington resident bundling their dog into a jacket and heading down to Fresh 'N' Wild to grab a bag of Grandma Earth's Ultra-Organic Purity Lentils (Now With 10% Added Smugness). Quite easy to be sceptical about… read more…

Oil has found itself to be even more newsworthy than usual today, what with the teamsters on strike and Gordon Brown planning to take an expensive sojourn down to Jeddah in an attempt to try and pull a few strings with Saudi oil chiefs. Whether or not he'll achieve anything… read more…

Rising food and oil prices are about to send the UK standard of living down to an abject level of depravity not last seen since the oil crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Economists ( A.K.A the nerdy kids from high school who have managed to acquire an unsportsmanlike hubris… read more…

A policeman has been shot dead by a colleague during a firearms training exercise. The Times. Former Conservative Leader, Michael Howard, has become the new boss of racecourse group Northern Racing. The Guardian. MPs have criticised a group of former MoD staff for behaving dishonourably after they managed to earn… read more…

When Westmonster heard that Tory leader David Cameron had plans to make the economy 'dynamic', we felt a little shiver run down our spine. 'Dynamic'? What does that mean exactly? Is this some attempt to make the world of finance more exciting to that all-important yoof market, an idea roughly… read more…

Guess who's crawled out from under the (Northern?) rock. Why, it's the Prime Minister! Yesterday he stopped in with Andrew. Today he's got an extended interview in The Guardian. Tomorrow, Westmonster expects to see him in New Hampshire moderating a debate. And what's Gordon on about in his new… read more…

Uh-oh, tighten those belts. The Bank of England says it's going to be choppy in 2008 thanks to global mortgage-lending buffoons. Presumably the Tories are now well ensconced in the "any bad news is good news for us" zone, so Happy New Year, Davey! Cleggers is investing in social mobility,… read more…