According to recent figures, MPs only get paid £61,820 a year. So stop complaining. The Guardian. China and Taiwan are to start talking again for the first time in a decade. BBC. The company responsible for computerising the NHS, Fujitsu, has lost it's contract to do so. BBC. It seems… read more…

The number of obese people on this Britannic island of ours is skyrocketing - infact, as you read this, literally hundreds of people will be unbuttoning their belts a notch, making way for the extra stomach baggage taken on by wolfing down a family-size bar of Cadbury's LardVeins. Enough,… read more…

Boris Johnson is to unveil a ban of alcohol on public transportation. Channel 4. It was revealed that a third of British employees have turned up to work with a hangover. BBC. Ed Balls is seeking to help dyslexic pupils by providing them with one-to-one lessons. The Guardian. The Lib… read more…

Gordon Brown feels your pain. The Guardian. New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is to visit Boris Johnson on Friday to give him some mayoral advice. The Guardian. Tony Blair has paid £4m for the former home of the actor Sir John Gielgud. The Guardian. The government has plans to open… read more…

Obesity is a major problem in the modern developed world. Right this second, countless millions of people are busy claiming that their overweight status is down to a faulty thyroid gland or their naturally 'big-boned' structure, rather than the fact that they spend all day shovelling family-size bars of… read more…

Sigh. We at Westmonster are growing weary of writing stories about the political tone-deafness of this government. Whilst the Tories take control of the political agenda, sound ever more sensible by the day, and feature a leader who's making transparent appeals to specific (and powerful) voting constituencies, Gordon Brown's government… read more…

The Government hit back today at fat tongued mockney Jamie Oliver, over his claims that bungling from Number Ten is responsible for the fall in take-up of the new school menus. "The fact is that eight year olds are less interested in organic wild mushrooms on a bed of penne… read more…

A BBC Have Your Say discussion on whether children should be given free school lunches to encourage healthy eating and assist with concentration in class has yielded this gem from Jim Jam: No, I (without children) should not pay for someone else's child to have a 'free' school lunch. If… read more…

Clegg is set to announce his candidacy at 11.30am, as the Guardian reports that the non-appearance of Steve Webb at the starting blocks has boosted little Nicky's campaign. Quite how the Liberal Democrats will be able to keep up this level of excitement for the next two months, Westmonster really has no… read more…

Westmonster provides live coverage of Prime Minister's Questions every Wednesday at Midday, when the House is in session. Below is the coverage of Prime Minister's Questions for 17 November 2007. 11:57 AM: Here we go again folks, and the Ministers responsible for the Department for Handing Out Lots of Money… read more…

The "obesity epidemic" is leading on the news. Westmonster hasn't seen the full headlines, so as yet it has not been explained to her how this is All Gordon Brown's Fault (but it is, apparently). Presumably the Gord has been spending his spare time infiltrating school cafeterias and frying… read more…