Doubt still hangs over the Queen's royal engagement to Italy next week as she continues to recuperate from symptoms of gastroenteritis.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are due to travel to Rome for a two-day visit, but that could be cancelled if she remains unwell.

A spokesman said the visit is still due to take place, but a decision will be made after she is assessed.

Sickness forced her to pull out of attending a military ceremony in Wales on Saturday as part of the country's St David's Day celebrations.

The Queen had been due to travel to Swansea to the Guildhall, where she was to present St David's Day leeks to the 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh, of which she is Colonel-in-Chief.

But a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said on Friday she would instead spend the weekend at Windsor.

Published: 03 March 2013

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Voters are going to the polls in the closely-contested Eastleigh by-election.

The Hampshire constituency has previously been held by the Conservatives and is one of the seats viewed as key to the party winning an outright majority at the 2015 general election.

But the Liberal Democrats are desperately fighting to hang on to it to give a vital morale boost to the grassroots after support hit the doldrums on entering coalition - though their campaign has been marred by allegations that the party failed to take proper action to deal with claims that senior peer Lord Rennard sexually harassed party activists.

Published: 28 February 2013

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Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced a £59 million fund to help boost regional economies as he warned local leaders it was time "to take up the gauntlet of growth".

The money has been earmarked for improving infrastructure, such as links to local road networks and utilities installation, in English enterprise zones.

The 24 zones, spread across 142 sites, offer tax incentives and have simplified planning rules as well as superfast broadband in a bid to attract businesses.

Mr Pickles said the announcement would allow successful bidders to turn "shovel ready sites into job ready sites".

He said: "Economic growth is this Government's biggest priority and enterprise zones are the engine room of that strategy.

"They are a fantastic way to attract the jobs and business investment that local areas need. This new £59 million fund will turbo charge that engine by turning shovel ready sites into job ready sites.

Published: 25 February 2013

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England's brightest youngsters are two years behind the best pupils in nations such as Hong Kong and Taiwan in maths by the time they are 16, new research shows.

It reveals that England's cleverest pupils can match their peers in leading East Asian countries at the age of 10, but then begin to fall behind.

Researchers suggested that more needs to be done to ensure the most able pupils are able to keep pace with the highest achievers in other countries.

The study, by researchers at the Institute of Education, University of London, looked at the children's maths achievement in two international studies, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

Ministers have raised concerns about England slipping down international rankings - coming 28th in maths in the PISA 2009 tests.

The researchers analysed TIMSS maths tests taken by nine and 10-year-olds in 2003 and by 13 and 14-year-olds in 2007, and PISA maths tests taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in 2009.

The study concludes that the gap between the top 10% of pupils in England and the highest achievers in East Asia widens between the ages of 10 and 16.

Published: 22 February 2013

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David Cameron has said he would be "disappointed" if Nick Clegg voted in favour of a mansion tax on expensive homes.

The Liberal Democrat leader has not ruled out joining Labour in a Commons vote to support the levy on properties worth more than £2 million proposed by Ed Miliband.

The mansion tax was a flagship policy in the Liberal Democrats' 2010 manifesto, but is bitterly opposed by Conservatives and did not feature in the post-election coalition agreement setting out the Government's programme.

The Deputy Prime Minister has already clashed with Chancellor George Osborne over the issue, as the row threatened to drive a rift between the coalition parties - already taking pot-shots at one another in the campaign for the February 28 Eastleigh by-election.

Mr Osborne has dismissed Labour's policy as a "tax con" which would see state inspectors assessing the value of homes across the country.

But, in an interview for ITV News, Mr Clegg retorted: "The Liberal Democrats have always been unambiguous that they want to make the tax system fairer. The Conservatives don't want to do that. They don't want, perhaps, to offend people in very large mansions.

"They need to answer for themselves. I'm absolutely sure that what we stand for is the right thing."

Published: 19 February 2013

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Royal Mail workers will be offered a 10% stake in the company as the Government steps up plans for a flotation amid a recent rally in financial markets, it has been reported.

Ministers are in advanced talks about giving the shareholding to staff at Royal Mail, who could be offered attractive incentives to buy shares or even be offered them for free, according to The Sunday Times.

The privatisation will be the country's biggest for more than 25 years, since the British Telecom and British Gas shares sales in the 1980s.

It is thought that investment bank UBS tested the market appetite for a stock market listing before Christmas and that the recent gains seen on the FTSE 100 Index - which enjoyed its best January for 24 years - has spurred on plans for a possible flotation.

But the terms of the staff share deal must reportedly be put in place before a listing can go ahead.

Royal Mail also needs to finalise a new pay deal with unions as a two-year pay agreement is set to expire at the end of next month.

A stock market flotation is only one option for Royal Mail's privatisation, with the Government also considering the potential for a sale to a rival or private equity fund.

Published: 17 February 2013

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BBC journalists will stage a 24-hour strike on Monday in a row over jobs, threatening disruption to radio and TV news programmes.

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will walk out from midnight as part of a campaign against compulsory redundancies.

The union said jobs were set to be axed across the corporation, including BBC Scotland, Five Live, the Asian Network and the World Service. The BBC said it could not speculate on possible disruption to programmes.

Picket lines will be mounted outside BBC offices across the UK, including London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Birmingham.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: "NUJ members across the BBC are taking action to defend jobs and quality journalism at the corporation. They are angry and frustrated at the poor decisions being taken at the top of the BBC - decisions that are leading to journalists being forced out of their jobs and quality journalism and programming compromised.

"Instead of making sure that the redeployment process works properly in all areas of the BBC, managers are prepared to waste public money on needless redundancies and sacrifice the livelihoods of experienced and talented journalists, at the same time as advertising other jobs externally. It's particularly disappointing that the BBC has failed to engage meaningfully in attempts to resolve this dispute - an abdication of responsibility for a public service broadcaster."

A BBC spokesperson said: "We understand how frustrating and difficult situations involving redundancies can be, but it is disappointing the NUJ have chosen to take this action.

"We are working hard to ensure that we succeed in getting staff redeployed wherever we can and will continue to work with the unions to ensure that their members receive the right redeployment support.

Published: 17 February 2013

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Retailers are set to be given some cheer when figures show sales volumes rebounded last month - despite the snow storms which blanketed many parts of Britain.

Economists are pencilling in a 0.5% month-on-month rise in sales in January, amid signs shoppers were tempted out by clearance sales and treated themselves to must-have technology.

The expected return to growth will boost hopes the UK economy can avoid a triple-dip recession and will be welcome news after a spate of high profile retail collapses and a dismal 0.1% fall in volumes over the crucial December trading period.

Fears that snow and ice in mid-January would deter shoppers were calmed by the British Retail Consortium's figures for the first two weeks of January, which showed a strong start to the year with like-for-like sales up 3%.

Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec, said: "It is feasible that the survey is correct and retail sales are recovering. Employment has risen by over 500,000 over the past year while real net household incomes are estimated to have risen by 2.8% in the year to the third quarter."

He is expecting a 0.6% rise in monthly volumes, but said: "More importantly this would increase our confidence that the economy is about to recover gradually rather than fall into a triple dip."

The BRC said shoppers bought televisions, tablet computers and smartphones and demand for footwear was strong, with Wellington boot sales boosted by the snow.

Published: 14 February 2013

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A university graduate has won her Court of Appeal claim that requiring her to work for free at a Poundland discount store was unlawful.

Three judges in London ruled that the regulations under which most of the Government's back-to-work schemes were created are unlawful and quashed them.

Cait Reilly, 24, from Birmingham, and 40-year-old unemployed HGV driver Jamieson Wilson, from Nottingham, both succeeded in their claims that the unpaid schemes were legally flawed.

Their solicitors said later the ruling means "all those people who have been sanctioned by having their jobseeker's allowance withdrawn for non-compliance with the back-to-work schemes affected will be entitled to reclaim their benefits". The ruling was made by Lord Justice Pill, Lady Justice Black and Sir Stanley Burnton.

In November 2011, Miss Reilly had to leave her voluntary work at a local museum and work unpaid at the Poundland store in Kings Heath, Birmingham, under a scheme known as the "sector-based work academy". She was told that if she did not carry out the work placement she would lose her jobseeker's allowance. For two weeks she stacked shelves and cleaned floors.

Mr Wilson, a qualified mechanic, was told that he had to work unpaid, cleaning furniture for 30 hours a week for six months, under a scheme known as the Community Action Programme. He objected to doing unpaid work that was unrelated to his qualifications and would not help him re-enter the jobs market. He refused to participate and as a result was stripped of his jobseeker's allowance for six months.

After the ruling, Public Interest Lawyers, who represent Ms Reilly and Mr Wilson, said the Court of Appeal's unanimous decision was a "huge setback for the Department for Work and Pensions, whose flagship reforms have been beset with problems since their inception". They said that "until new regulations are enacted with proper parliamentary approval, nobody can be compelled to participate on the schemes".

Published: 12 February 2013

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Britain must make sure its borders are "as open as possible" to genuine foreign business visitors and investment, Business Secretary Vince Cable has said.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Cable said the UK is not "inward looking" and welcomes talent from emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Focusing on Chinese investment and tourism, the Business Secretary said Britain's share of Chinese visitors has been dropping with evidence of people labelling the visa system as "unfriendly and inflexible".

A recent crackdown on immigration has drawn criticism for deterring talented individuals and businesses from applying to work or study in the UK.

Mr Cable said: "Of course, it is necessary to prevent abuse of the immigration rules. But equally we cannot allow red tape to deter the very people that we want to come to the UK and help make the economy stronger. We want to create and promote an image of Britain which means and delivers what it says on the tin: open for global business."

The Government is clamping down on bogus foreign students through initiatives such as interviews with applicants from high-risk countries and barring more than 500 colleges from taking non-EU students.

Universities have condemned the crackdown, claiming it had driven large numbers of genuine overseas applicants to competitor countries.

Published: 11 February 2013

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