Huhne says climate change talks are at their "Munich moment" as £15m renewable heat scheme launched

DECC minister Chris Huhne has compared world leaders who obstruct a global deal to tackle climate change to politicians who tried to appease Adolf Hitler before World War Two, as his department launches a £15 million scheme for domestic renewable heat.The energy and climate change minister was at Chatham House, endeavouring to inject new urgency into climate change negotiations.He said that it was vital that governments redouble their efforts to...

bail-out of the euro represents the introduction of socialism on a continental scale - with the British government's cynical endorsement.

How very appropriate that tanks should have been rolling through the streets of Brussels on the day that Europe dismantled another pillar of democracy. The military display, as it happened, was commemorating Belgium National Day, not the triumphal march toward financial union, but the coincidence was one of history’s better jokes. Europe is now galloping toward the final realisation of its great post-war dream: the abolition of independent nation...

Disgraced former News International boss Rebekah Brooks intervened to persuade David Cameron to make ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson his spin doctor,

Disgraced former News International boss Rebekah Brooks intervened to persuade David Cameron to make ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson his spin doctor, it was claimed last night.She is understood to have urged Mr Cameron to scrap plans to give the job to a senior BBC journalist. Mr Cameron was told it should go to someone who was ‘acceptable’ to News International.The disclosure increases pressure on Mr Cameron over his close links to Mrs...

Lithuanians among Lincolnshire blast dead

Three of the five men killed in an explosion at an industrial unit suspected of being used to produce moonshine alcohol were originally from Lithuania, police have confirmed.Lincolnshire police said officers were still trying to establish the identity of the other men who died and a sixth victim who was injured in the blast in Boston on Wednesday night. A spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that three of the fatal casualties are believed to be Lithuanian...

Outrage at EU moves to 'auction' fish quotas

INDUSTRY leaders and fishing communities are gearing up to campaign against proposed changes to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which could throw open Scotland's lucrative fishing grounds to foreign trawler fleets.Until now foreign fleets, including Spanish trawlers, have been kept out of Scottish waters by access rights, where catches are allocated on the basis of historical landings under the rule of so called "relative stability".But the disclosure...

Europe's bank stress tests as bad as 1979 Irish driving test

Seeing large numbers of his fellow citizens failing their driving tests, Mr Barrett – in a quick bid for votes – declared that anyone who had taken their test twice and not passed would automatically qualify for a licence.The consequences were predictable. At any one time, about 40pc of the Irish population were allowed to drive on the roads without ever actually having passed a test. Traffic accidents went up and insurance costs followed.Andrea...

Senior MP's secret links to Murdoch

The MP who will lead the attack on Rebekah Brooks and Rupert and James Murdoch this week over their roles in the phone-hacking scandal has close links with the media empire, it is revealed today.John Whittingdale, the Conservative chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport committee, admitted he was an old friend of Mr Murdoch's close aide, Les Hinton, and had been for dinner with Ms Brooks.The Independent on Sunday has also learnt that Mr Murdoch's...