Monday, December 13, 2010

The Independent - UK RSS Feed

The Independent - UK RSS Feed

Fancy and Imagination: Beardsley and the Book Illustrators

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:04 PM PST

Flipping through a picture book is a magical pastime. But because some illustrations hold more power than others, it follows that some illustrators are greater magicians. One of the greatest is surely the late Aubrey Beardsley, whose black ink drawings conjure fantasy worlds and monsters.

Police 'kettling' under fire as May refuses to rule out water cannon

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, has refused to rule out the use of water cannon for the first time in Britain if future student demonstrations result in further violence.

Streetwise I'm not, says a chastened Alan Bennett

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

The playwright Alan Bennett has written of mad kings and deranged women, of black markets and Cold War Spies, and has railed against politicians and media moguls. However, as he is the first to confess, he is not streetwise. Writing publicly for the first time about his encounter with two pickpockets who stole £1,500 he had just withdrawn from a bank, he said the experience left him "less ready to believe in the kindness of strangers".

Pink Floyd guitarist's son charged over Cenotaph stunt

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

The son of the Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour has been arrested over his involvement in the student protests in London last week.

Sympathy for those on benefits is lowest since Thatcher's time

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

The public is now less sympathetic towards people claiming benefits than at any time since Margaret Thatcher left office, the longest-running study into Britain's social attitudes reveals.

Clegg told to reassure 'hurting' Lib Dems

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

A Liberal Democrat MP has warned Nick Clegg that he needs to convince his party that he remains the right person to be leader.

Mother of Baby P was thanked for her honesty

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

A senior social worker thanks the mother of Baby P for being "completely honest" during an interview taken four months before his death which will be broadcast for the first time tonight.

Iceland walks out of fishing talks

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

Britain and the EU are on the verge of a trade war with Iceland and the Faroe Islands after talks to agree a quota for fishing mackerel collapsed.

Florida pastor may be barred from the UK

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is to consider banning the US pastor Terry Jones from travelling to Britain at the invitation of a far-right organisation to speak on "the evils and destructiveness of Islam". Pastor Jones provoked widespread outrage earlier this year with his plan to burn a pile of Korans outside his church in Gainsville, Florida, and has been invited to address a rally of the English Defence League (EDL).

Weather fells Scottish minister

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

A new Scottish transport minister has been announced, one day after Stewart Stevenson bowed to pressure and resigned.

Retailers confident of festive trading boom

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

Despite a chill in the air and a gloomy economic outlook, the tills at Bluewater shopping centre were ringing up huge sales yesterday. On one of the busiest weekends of the year, 250,000 visitors poured through the doors to look for bargains in the run-up to the festive season.

Coastguard and police prepare for cuts

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

The coalition is to give more details this week on how spending cuts will hit services including police, roads and the coastguard. A series of announcements by ministers will flesh out the impact of settlements from this autumn's Spending Review.

Coach crashes, injuring 17

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

A coach with 35 passengers on board overturned as it left the M40 motorway.

Yvette Cooper: 'If Diplomats feel they Can't talk, that is very difficult'

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

Yvette Cooper, Her Majesty's Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, is in fits of giggles. She is recounting how, on one of the few foreign trips she made as a government minister, she was late arriving for a meeting in Poland. "I can only have done about two or three foreign trips the whole time I was in government, one of which was a health conference in Warsaw," she said. "I managed to arrive late because I forgot my passport and only realised when we got to the airport. It was hugely embarrassing. In this job I will have to become a more organised international traveller."

Cooper: We should have criticised US over human rights

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

Labour is preparing a break with its recent past by dropping its unquestioning support of US foreign policy under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Council jobs under threat rises to 70,000

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 02:45 AM PST

The number of council jobs cut or threatened with the axe in recent weeks has now topped 70,000, with unions fearing the pace of redundancies will quicken in the New Year, according to a new report today.

Move to ban anti-Islam pastor from UK

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 02:43 AM PST

Campaigners are calling for a controversial US pastor to be banned from entering Britain to share his views on Islam with far-right activists.

Police issue pictures of protest suspects

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 01:06 AM PST

Scotland Yard released pictures today of 14 people who are wanted in connection with violence during the tuition fee demonstrations.

One is most amused: Designers reveal their modern take on William and Kate memorabilia...

Posted: 11 Dec 2010 04:00 PM PST

Ever since Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement on 16 November, producers of royal memorabilia have gone into overdrive. Asda was first off the mark. "Nothing says congratulations like your face on a mug," a spokesperson declared as the shelves creaked beneath the weight of £5 commemorative cups. On eBay, there are sets of bone-china thimbles featuring the happy couple's faces (buy now for £4.95!) and, of course, the Royal Mint is busily perfecting that top-secret coin design.

posted by Greg Shaw at Monday, December 13, 2010