| Quiz of the week's news The Magazine's weekly quiz of the news, 7 days 7 questions - plus the Weekly Bonus Question. bbc.co.uk |
Mary Queen of Shops slams garden centres Mary Portas, the retail expert, has criticised Britain's garden centres for not teaching their customers anything about how to garden. telegraph.co.uk |
David Cameron and Nick Clegg express regret over broken election pledges PM admits he had to 'eat his words' over child benefit, while deputy PM describes U-turn over tuition fees as 'one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do'David Cameron and Nick Clegg today expressed regret for breaking election pledges when they faced an audience at a question-and-answer session in the aftermath of the government's spending cuts announcement.The prime minister admitted he had to "eat his words" over child benefit, under questioning from audience members who were angry that both parties had reneged on promises made before the election.Clegg said he felt "really bad" when asked by a sixth-former about his U-turn on tuition fees.Cameron and Legg were appearing at the George Spencer Academy in Stapleford, Nottingham, where they faced blunt questions from the audience.On tuition fees, which the Lib Dems had opposed before the election, Clegg said: "It's one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do – to own up to pledging things I now feel I cannot deliver."Cameron told the audience of about 100 how he had to listen as the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, quoted his promises on child benefit back to him in the Commons."I had to eat those words. But is it right to go on asking people on £15,000 £20,000 or £25,000 a year to keep paying so that Nick and me and Ed Miliband can go on getting child benefit?"The two men sat two feet apart and took turns answering the questions, often contributing support to each other's answers.In a nod to their previous stage appearances together, when Clegg answered the first question of the day, which was about the privileges afforded to prisoners, Cameron intervened and said: "I agree with Nick."At the same session, Cameron defended the government's decision to increase foreign aid despite swingeing domestic spending cuts – claiming the UK had a "moral duty" to help.The Department for International Development's budget will enjoy a 37% real-terms rise to £9.4bn over the next four years,But, faced with a voter who told him charity "should begin at home", he insisted it was in Britain's interests to direct help overseas to tackle terrorism and immigration.A multiple sclerosis sufferer pressed Cameron and Clegg the effects of the cuts on people with disabilities. Margaret Lynch, 52, told them: "You're really picking on the weakest people in society and it's completely unfair how you're applying these budget cuts."Speaking outside the meeting she said she felt she had to press her point because she believed cuts to council services were going to have a massive effect on care services for disabled people.She said the care allowance she received from the government – which is between £40 and £50 a week – would be effectively halved by having to pay for her own home care.David CameronNick CleggChild benefitCommunitiesChildrenTuition feesHigher educationStudentsUniversity fundingguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Hundreds of schools remain closed Severe winter weather is set to cause further disruption across the country with schools closed and problems on the roads. bbc.co.uk |
Prince Andrew and the Kazakh billionaire US embassy cables' exposure of duke's dealings aren't the first time his eastern European links have been questionedPrince Andrew's dealings with the allegedly corrupt regime in Kazakhstan are already causing him awkward publicity.One exiled businessman seeking asylum in Britain is alleging in a high court battle that laundered money was used to buy the prince's former house at Sunninghill Park in 2007, for £3m over the asking price.The 12-bedroom mansion, provided by the Queen for Andrew and Sarah Ferguson after their marriage in 1986, was bought through apparently concealed links to a series of offshore companies.It was purchased by a wealthy figure in the Kazakh regime, Timur Kulibayev, for £15m after five years on the market. In September, a spokesman for Kulibayev denied the use of "corrupt" funds and said the allegations against him were "politically motivated".The dilapidated property has remained vacant ever since. Its sale may or may not have been facilitated by the prince's friendship with Goga Ashkenazi, a 29-year-old London-based Kazakh businesswoman who had a baby by Kulibayev in December 2007.Prince Andrew and Ashkenazi have dined and gone to Royal Ascot together. Buckingham Palace told the Mail that the prince "totally and utterly rejected" any suggestion that the house sale was anything other than a straight commercial transaction. Or as the prince himself told the Telegraph last year: "It's not my business the second the price is paid. If that is the offer, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and suggest they have overpaid me."But Andrew might squirm if he was able to read all the private remarks collected by the US state department about Kulibayev, whom they call a "manicured billionaire". His oil-rich country is termed a "cesspool" by one western ambassador, and the leaked US cables are replete with quotations from Kulibayev's enemies.One western oilman said: "Kulibayev and his ilk prey on foreigners and locals alike."The "perfectly tanned" presidential son-in-law, as the diplomats describe him, also has his western admirers, however.They include Sir Richard Evans, former head of BAE, where he was the architect of a network of allegedly corrupt payments to promote arms deals which eventually led to $400m fines for BAE in the US. Evans subsequently went on the payroll of the Kazakh regime, as chairman of the state holding company Samruk.In 2008, the cables record: "Richard Evans … told the ambassador that Kulibayev was the one real businessman he had met in the entire Samruk structure."In January 2010, US ambassador Richard Hoagland wrote: "Timur Kulibayev is currently the favoured presidential son-in-law, on the Forbes 500 list of billionaires (as is his wife separately), and the ultimate controller of 90% of the economy of Kazakhstan."Prince AndrewMonarchyThe US embassy cablesKyrgyzstanUS foreign policyUnited StatesDavid LeighStephen Batesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |