Government scales back child worker vetting scheme

Plans to vet millions of people working with children and vulnerable adults are to be scaled back to “common sense” levels, the Government announced today

Live: Bloody Sunday families shown Saville report

9.40 BST On a January morning 38 years ago, 13 protesters died at the hands of British paratroopers and 14 were injured, one so seriously he died four months later. For many of their relatives, the years since have been dominated by the search for truth about what happened during 25 chaotic minutes in central Londonderry.

Bloody Sunday fees hit £100m, with 14 lawyers earning more than £1m

A total of £100 million, more than half the costs of the Bloody Sunday inquiry, established in 1998, has gone on legal fees.

Freedom of Information Act gives protection to royal secrets

The Royal Family and the Royal Household were exempted from direct requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Royal Household was not included in the Act’s definition of a public authority, so members of the public are unable to access information held in the Royal Archives. Public bodies can be asked to release information that may include details about the Royal Fami

BNP leader invited to meet Queen at Buckingham Palace garden party

Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, has been invited to attend a Buckingham Palace garden party hosted by the Queen, The Times has learnt.

England sees again how fragile optimism can be on and off the field

We have Harold Wilson to blame for the search for connections between the World Cup and the fortunes of the nation.

US pension funds sue BP directors over the falling share price

Fifteen directors of BP, including Tony Hayward, the chief executive, and Carl-Henric Svanberg, the chairman, are being sued personally by two US pension funds for their role in the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.

Economy may never recover from banking crisis, warns OBR

The economy, more damaged by the banking crisis than previously admitted, will grow more weakly and may never fully recover, the new Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said yesterday.

Same economists who work out Budget figures are producing OBR data

Two men had the job of signing off Alistair Darling’s growth and borrowing forecasts, which have now been revised by the independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility: Sir Nick Macpherson, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, and Dave Ramsden, Chief Economic Adviser.

Blundering goalkeepers ‘think their hands are wider’

As the ball skimmed his glove and rolled into the back of the net, it was a moment of head-in-hands calamity for the England goalkeeper Robert Green. For scientists, the USA’s equaliser on Saturday evening may simply have confirmed the discovery that our mental representation of our hands is about two thirds wider than they really are.

Why everything in the garden is lovely again at Chiswick House

Behind a thundering dual carriageway on the A4 out of London is an unlikely site to have inspired the rolling parkland of the English country garden.

Melancholy swansong of a queen gets upbeat vote from opera lovers

The suicidal subject matter is far from uplifting and it is unlikely to become a World Cup theme tune any time soon.

Popular? What about tunesmiths Bizet, Handel, Rossini and Verdi?

Oh dear. Asking Radio 3 listeners for a Top Ten of Britain’s favourite arias is a bit like asking the Bullingdon Club to supply a list of the nation’s favourite tipples. It would include rare vintages, but not what they shift by the tankload at Bargain Booze.

Derrick Bird’s mother vows to write letters of comfort to bereaved

The elderly mother of Derrick Bird is determined to send letters of condolence to the families of each of her son’s 12 victims, it has emerged.

Tax-cutting blow as CGT to raise £1.5bn less than planned

George Osborne faced a fresh blow over capital gains tax yesterday after it emerged it is due to raise £1.5 billion less than expected.

Britain must prepare for casualty spike in Afghanistan, Cameron warns

David Cameron warned yesterday that there would be more British deaths in Afghanistan this summer but said that the threat to Britain of an al-Qaeda attack from the region had dropped.

Families call for the truth 38 years after Bloody Sunday

On the edge of the Bogside in Londonderry stands a granite monument to the 14 men “murdered by British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday”. The simple signs at its foot proclaim: “Hope for Truth.”

Royal two for one: William and Harry go to Africa on first joint tour

In these times of austerity, it is the royal tour that gives value for money: two princes for the price of one. Prince William and Prince Harry’s tour of Africa — a six-day, three-country dash that began yesterday and will take in England’s next World Cup match in Cape Town — is the first time the prin-ces have embarked on a joint tour.

Witnesses ‘lied to hide Prince’s involvement,’ court told

Witnesses in the Chelsea Barracks case “concocted an untrue story” to cover up the involvement of the Prince of Wales and the Emir of Qatar in the cancellation of an £81 million modernist housing project, the High Court was told yesterday.

BBC to break ranks on public sector pay

The BBC has ignored pleas for public sector pay restraint with a multimillion-pound offer to boost the salaries of more than 13,000 workers.

Lord Saville — an outstanding legal mind defined by Bloody Sunday inquiry

It is an irony of the Bloody Sunday inquiry that the most expensive and long judicial investigation in history was chaired by a judge chosen for his efficiency.

Gazza in hospital after car crash

The former England World Cup star Pau Gascoigne was in hospital today after suffering serious injuries in a car crash.

Bloody Sunday victims must be declared innocent, says McGuinness

Martin McGuinness has called for the Saville Inquiry into the Bloody Sunday killings to exonerate all 27 of those killed and injured from claims that they posed an armed threat to British soldiers.

Tests show students died in double suicide, despite parents’ protests

Two students found dead in a Scottish hotel perished in a double suicide according to post-mortem tests, The Times has learnt.

Londoners to enjoy ‘champagne of water’ with drink fountain restoration

More than 40 Victorian and Edwardian fountains are to be restored in the capital’s Royal Parks, enabling the public to drink water from them for the first time in decades.

GP ‘failed to adequately examine Baby P’, misconduct hearing hears

A GP who saw Baby P eight days before his death missed a “unique opportunity” to save the toddler’s life by failing to investigate the signs of child abuse, a misconduct hearing was told today.

Defence cuts will be ‘ruthless and without sentiment’, Liam Fox warns

The Government will act “ruthlessly and without sentiment” in finding savings in the defence budget, the Defence Secretary Liam Fox warned today as he set out his priorities for a major review.

OBR slashes economic growth forecasts

Q&A: what is the Office for Budgetary Responsibility? LIVE: question to the experts on inflation

Brits storm Broadway in the Tonys

See pictures of last night's Tony awards, and read more about British successes at The Times's new website

We’re all very normal, Labour leadership contenders tell hustings

Labour’s leadership hopefuls today came to what seemed to them to be a promised land, a place where many people still vote Labour — Scotland.