UK spends £2bn housing homeless in B&Bs, hostels and shelters

Rising private rents, lack of affordable housing, benefit cuts and low levels of home-building force costly short-term solution, investigation findsThe UK has spent almost £2bn housing vulnerable homeless families in short-term temporary accommodation, according to figures that demonstrate the scale of Britain's housing crisis.Rising private rents, a shortage of affordable housing and bene

Cameron had the chance to defy the 'swivel-eyed loons' and remake his party. He failed | Steve Richards

This week he's been exposed. There was little thinking on what modern Conservatism might be like. Now he can only busk itCrises erupt when a party is ill at ease with itself. A tiny tremor can lead to an almighty eruption. Currently, the Conservative party has a leader wary of its activists, and is supported by members suspicious of the leadership. We have known this for some time. Step back

Letters: Europe and the fight for fair wages

Bob Crow is correct to label the European Union as a free-market straightjacket increasing misery for the continent's majority (Exit Europe from the left, 18 May), but he is mistaken to imagine we can improve matters by leaving. Should we do so we will then be out in the cold and easily picked off by big business and finance demanding lower wages in order for the UK to receive investment or prev

Government pleads with Labour to save gay marriage bill

Tory rebellion on amendment to grant civil partnerships to heterosexual couples will 'cost £4bn and take two years'Downing Street issued a stark warning that the bill to legalise gay marriage will run into grave trouble – and cost the taxpayer an extra £4bn – if the Labour party joins forces with Tory opponents to vote in favour of granting civil partnerships to heterosexual couples.As Dav

Scotland's tough call: stay in the UK, or stay in the EU? | Angus Roxburgh

Referendums on Europe and Scottish independence will strongly influence each other and leave voters with an invidious choiceThe Scots are accustomed to having their views ignored in the British political system. In 18 general elections since the second world war, the Conservatives have had a majority in Scotland only once (1955), yet they have formed the government nine times. Despite voting

Bob Dylan 'unworthy' of the Légion d'honneur? It's time for a protest song | Fiachra Gibbons

Bob Dylan's cannabis use and anti-war stance mean he's been deemed 'unworthy' of France's highest honour. But all is not lostThe grand chancellor of the Légion d'honneur has declared that Bob Dylan is unworthy of receiving France's highest honour, in defiance of the culture minister, Aurélie Filippetti – a huge fan of the singer who nominated him for the award. General Jean-Louis Georgelin ap

Google chairman Eric Schmidt softens line on tax loopholes

Boss of search engine says international tax law could benefit from reform – a marked shift in tone from December remarksGoogle's chairman, Eric Schmidt, has said he welcomes promises by international leaders to crack down on tax loopholes exploited by the search firm and other multinational internet businesses that take billions of pounds of sales from the UK through overseas companies, whic

Andrew Feldman - David Cameron's loyal friend and tennis partner

Before being accused of calling Tory activists 'swivel-eyed loons', party co-chair's was little known outside political circlesBefore Lord Feldman was forced into the media spotlight to deny calling grassroots Tory activists "swivel-eyed loons", few outside Westminster had heard of him.The successful former barrister and businessman had managed to keep a low profile despite his rise throug

Marks & Spencer under fire over online tax arrangements

Exclusive: Retailer accused of scheme in which goods shipped to Europe from UK are invoiced to Irish subsidiary at lower rateMarks & Spencer has become the latest in a string of UK companies to face criticism from tax campaigners over the way it structures its online sales to Europe – with one describing its sales operation as similar to that of the internet retail giant Amazon.The British

Jobseekers and benefits data release postponed by DWP

Work and pensions department's figures to show how many people have lost benefits under new sanctions regimeThe Department for Work and Pensions has delayed publication of the first set of official statistics detailing the extra number of jobless claimants losing benefits as a result of a tougher sanctions regime introduced by the coalition in October.The DWP said there were "some signific

Workfare placements must be made public, tribunal rules

New setback as DWP is ordered to publish names of businesses and charities hosting unemployed people on work schemesThe Department for Work and Pensions has lost a major court battle to keep the locations of thousands of workfare placements secret.At the end of a freedom of information challenge that has lasted 15 months, Judge David Marks QC ruled that the DWP must publish the names of bu

Debenhams backs fair treatment of models

Retailer's decision to adhere to code of conduct over models' working conditions comes after Vogue signed 10-point planDebenhams has become the first high street retailer to sign up to a new code of conduct for working conditions for models, with the chief executive, Michael Sharp, calling on others to follow suit.The decision to offer fair treatment to the women and men it uses in its adv

MPs could be in line for £10,000 pay rise

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has reportedly decided that MPs' salaries are lagging behind civil service payMPs may receive a pay rise of about £10,000 a year amid reports that the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) has decided that their salaries are lagging behind civil service pay.John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, is understood to be sympathetic to a pa

Tax avoidance: how to change corporate behaviour

It is up to consumers and voters to change the lousy behaviour of big banks, energy giants and internet multinationals. They will not change by themselvesLast week, I was waiting in the queue at the butcher while an elderly lady was being served. Clearly, she was not that well-off and chose the cheapest cuts of meat. When she was done, the butcher asked the assistant serving her how much the

Hunt backs Feldman in 'swivel-eyed loons' row

Health secretary says he does not believe Tory co-chairman made disparaging remarks about grassroots ToriesJeremy Hunt, the health secretary, has offered strong support for the Conservative co-chairman Lord Feldman, who is fighting allegations that he made disparaging remarks about Tory activists.Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1, Hunt praised Feldman as a man of great honour, addin

Lord Feldman, loons and press hypocrisy

The reporters must have known they were being a bit fly, but a story's a story, especially a story about EuropeThe controversy over the unidentified source of the "mad, swivel-eyed loons" remark about Tory activists, attributed to one of David Cameron's closest advisers – the one with "strong social connections to the PM", hint, hint – has taken on a life of its own in the Tory press. What th

Eurosceptics running protection racket in Tory party, says Lord Mandelson

Mandelson says anti-EU Tories are threatening to 'burn down the house' unless David Cameron caves in to their demandsTory Eurosceptics are running a "Soprano-style protection racket" in the Conservative party in which they are threatening to burn down the house unless David Cameron caves into their demands, Lord Mandelson has claimed.As the former Tory chancellor Lord Howe warned that the

Edmund Burke: Philosopher, Politician, Prophet by Jesse Norman – review

The MP makes an absorbing if unconvincing attempt to recast the Irish statesman as an inspiration for modern conservatismIs this book about Edmund Burke or Jesse Norman? Should this review be about the "first modern conservative" or the man who might yet succeed David Cameron?I merely ask, as the pre-publicity for this biography-cum-manifesto has focused almost entirely on the author. With

One tax law for us and another for Amazon | Nick Cohen

Britain's reluctance to pursue multinationals risks turning us into another ItalyOn the edge of Rugeley stands Amazon's largest distribution centre in Britain. Life for the workers who trudge around the 800,000 sq ft warehouse is not as bad as it was for the men who once worked in the pits of the Staffordshire coalfield, but that is not saying much. They must carry satnavs, which direct their

Aristocrats make bid for equality? That's a new one | Catherine Bennett

Why are so many liberals excited by the campaign to allow women equality in inheriting hereditary titles?Better late than never: elements within the British aristocracy have begun disseminating ideas of fairness and equality. In a historic letter to the _Telegraph_, more than 200 signatories last week called on Parliament to end the system of male primogeniture and "grant equality to both sex

The Tories want out of Europe. Let's try to get out of this depression instead

Even Francophile Conservatives now want Britain to go it alone. But it's not the euro that's holding us back: it's the governmentAccording to Greek mythology, Cerberus was the many-headed hound that stood at the gates of Hades, the underworld. Feeding the hound of hell was a thankless task. He always wanted more. Hence the expression "a sop to Cerberus", meaning a futile gift of a morsel that

Amazon's tax arrangements are nothing short of a work of art. Bravo!

Amazon has come in for plenty of stick for paying so little tax in the UK. But its actions display such impish wit that it's hard not to revel in the majesty of a terrible thing well doneThere's something fishy about Google's motto, "Don't be evil." I'm not saying it's controversial but it makes you think, "Why bring that up? Why have you suddenly put the subject of being evil on the agenda?"

Sean Rigg's death must be the catalyst for a reform in policing | Observer editorial

Officers must be held to account when there's a death in police custody if the force is to regain the public's trustThe main role of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is to bring the full facts to light when independently investigating a death in police custody. The IPCC has come in for severe criticism on many occasions but never more so than in last week's independent revi

Barack Obama must act like a true leader | Observer editorial

It is always hard for an American president in the second term, but both his country and the world need Obama to show strength and courage and put scandal behind himIt is a simple fact of American politics that power starts to fade away from a second-term president almost from the moment they are sworn in. Theoretically freed from the chains of having ever to seek re-election, they soon find

David Cameron's inner demons

Chris Riddell on why the prime minister is suffering torments over Europe and UkipChris Riddell

Tory chair Andrew Feldman: I did not make 'swivel-eyed loons' remark

Conservative co-chairman taking legal advice following online rumours that he made remark about party activistsThe co-chairman of the Conservatives has denied describing party activists as "swivel-eyed loons" after rumours circulated on the internet that he was the source for remarks widely published over the weekend.Lord Feldman said he was taking legal advice after posts on Twitter impli

Fury at corporate tax avoidance leads to call for a global response

Anger over the financial affairs of multinationals such as Google, Amazon and Starbucks is gathering momentum in Westminster. Now the UK is poised to lead the debate about international tax reform at next month's G8 summitHuge orange and green cranes hover over a vast building site at King's Cross, London. Over the next three years, 2.4 acres of this site will be transformed into a million sq

Two-thirds of voters say PM should 'listen more' to backbenchers

Amid row over Europe in Tory party, Opinium/Observer poll shows 3% fall in David Cameron's approval ratingOver two-thirds of voters believe the prime minister should "listen and pay more attention" to the views of his backbenchers, amid the row within the party over Europe.An Opinium/Observer poll found that 67% of respondents believed David Cameron should listen to what he is being told r

Eric Schmidt defends Google's tax affairs following Commons criticism

Google executive chairman says company accounts comply with international lawGoogle executive chairman Eric Schmidt has defended his company's financial affairs after a Commons committee branded the internet giant devious and unethical for sheltering its multibillion-pound profits from UK taxes.Writing in the Observer, Schmidt said his company's accounts were complicated but complied with

Out, out, out! Can anybody stem the Eurosceptic tide?

The Conservative party, not for the first time, is tearing itself apart over Europe. Eurosceptics have become more vocal and the PM seems unable to deal with the growing rebellion. Daniel Boffey looks at the challenge to David Cameron and talks to a leading Tory advocating a Europe exitDuring one of the rare moments when Richard Ottaway MP has attracted any attention at all, he was described