Home Patrick Mercer MP resigned the Conservative whip after being filmed in discussion with a fake Fijian firm that paid him £4,000 to ask parliamentary questions; he was in fact being investigated by BBC’s Panorama and the Daily Telegraph. Lord Cunningham and Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate were suspended by the Labour party after the Sunday
There can be little doubt that Britain is edging towards intervening in Syria. President Bashar Assad’s bloody ruthlessness seems to be paying off: his forces are retaking former rebel strongholds (the strategic town of Qusair was reclaimed this week) and the more he believes he can win, the less likely he is to negotiate. From
Mike Hancock last night resigned the Lib Dem whip to fight a court case that includes serious allegations about his conduct. He resigned after a meeting with the chief whip and the party’s deputy leader Simon Hughes about the claims, which he strenuously denies. A party spokesman said last night: ‘Mike Hancock strenuously denies the allegations
‘You’ve travelled a billion light years to steal our natural resources? Sucker! We used them all up decades ago!’
‘Ah, I see you’re employing the English Defence.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with me now, but I expect there will be by the time I’m seen.’
‘No need to do your Jonny Wilkinson, just kick the door down.’
‘Couldn’t you just have carried a copy of the Times?’
‘Did you pack this bag, write this book, design this range of clothes and bedlinen and manufacture this perfume yourself?’
‘Say what you like about gay marriage — I’ve forgotten all about our desperate financial situation.’
‘OK, which one of you did that?
‘This is Jennings, in charge of driving up standards.’
Minority sports The annual cheese-rolling race took place at Cooper’s Hill, Gloucestershire, won by an American who had flown over for the occasion. Some more minority sports: Chessboxing Contestants compete over 11 rounds, each one consisting of 4 minutes of chess followed by 2 minutes of boxing. National championships are held in India Unicycle polo
HS2 v broadband Sir: Rory Sutherland (The Wiki Man, 25 May) is rightly sceptical of HS2, but in limiting his remarks only to the transport of people, he is still too kind. Why spend 20 years building Victorian technology when the infrastructure of the future will be a broadband network of far greater capacity than exists
Home Ten men were arrested in connection with the public, daylight murder of Drummer Lee Rigby near his barracks in Woolwich. The two chief suspects, Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, Britons of Nigerian descent and converts to Islam, had waited in the street after the hacking to death of the soldier until armed
As ministers trooped one by one into George Osborne’s office last week for negotiations over the Spending Review, most looked pretty grim, steeling themselves against news of cuts to come. But three more cheerful figures stood out: the Secretaries of State for Health, Education and International Development. Their budgets, which between them account for more