The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that it is to pay £2m to an Iraqi teenager accidentally shot by a British Soldier. BBC. The Guardian. The Times. House prices fall at the fastest rate since 1978. The Guardian. Oil prices have reached a new high of $112.48 per barrel. BBC.… read more…

A snapshot of Britain in 2007: Leslie Ash, actress, is awarded £5 million by the NHS Litigation Authority (without going to court, apparently), after contracting a form of MRSA at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Meanwhile on the other side of the social fence, several hundred soldiers have been awarded around… read more…

BONG! "No negotiating with Taliban" says Brown, who's also busy not negotiating with policemen and Mediterranean types who are hawking around a treaty-thingy. BONG! The police may strike. Yorkshire miners currently offering their services to government as replacement cover if needed. BONG! The public has spoken. The £50 million Big… read more…

A written PQ from Nick Harvey, answered yesterday on the subject of Our Boys' role in sea-cow conservation (via here): Derek Twigg: On 26 and 28 March 2007 British Army Training Support Unit Belize provided assistance to the Wildlife Trust’s Manatee Conservation Project, in locating, examining and tagging Manatees. Two… read more…

If you think your Monday's bad, check out Brown's diary: he'll get a hard time at the Downing Street press conference this morning, suffer heckles as he makes his Iraq statement (again, but in the Chamber this time), and finish off with addressing several hundred belligerent Labour MPs in the… read more…