The UK has officially ratified the European Union's Lisbon Treaty. he treaty sets out a way forward for the 27-member and replaces the EU constitution which was abandoned after "no" votes in French and Dutch referendums.
Opponents argue it is so similar to the constitution that promises to hold a referendum on the constitution should apply to the treaty.
But ministers say the two differ and a referendum is not needed as the treaty does not have constitutional implications.

Britain's power to govern itself is to be surrendered increasingly to Brussels after the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty was finally ratified.
The treaty, which will come into force within a few weeks, will create the first president of Europe, as well as a European foreign minister, and will end Britain’s right to veto new EU rules in more than 40 policy areas.”

EU rules say government deficits must be below 3% of GDP, but the UK's deficit is expected to hit £178bn - or 12.6% of GDP - this year.

It has been estimated that the total cost for the Games will be more than £11.3 bn. Creating the Olympic venues and making sure the right infrastructures are in place for the Games will primarily be funded by public money - taxes.
The Olympics Games themselves will be funded mainly by the private sector.

The former prime minister, who gave nearly six hours of evidence on Friday, is expected to be asked about intelligence reports. His second public appearance could take place before the general election.

The panel are concerned in particular about his evidence relating to the legality of the invasion, the Guardian has learned. Blair's evidence seemingly contradicted that given by Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general at the time, about the number of discussions the pair had about issues of law between 7 March and 17 March 2003, three days before the attack on Iraq.

Under Labour, people are paying around £350 more per year for their petrol - equivalent to a 2p rise in the basic rate of income tax

About £7.3billion has been overpaid as part of Gordon Brown's flagship tax credit scheme, a report by MPs reveals today. More than a million struggling families may be tested by further hardship as the money is clawed back, it says. On average each faces an annual bill of £770, according to the Commons' spending watchdog, the public accounts committee.

Iain Martin says the Prime Minister hasn't 'saved the world' and now faces disgrace in the history books The Government's bail-out of the banks in October with £37 billion of taxpayers' money was supposed to have "saved the world", according to the PM, but now it is clear that it has not even saved the banks.
Our money kept the show on the road for only three months. As the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman Vince Cable asks: where has the £37 billion gone? The answer, as Cable knows, is that it has disappeared down the plug hole.

Banks part owned by UK govt running scared of lending to commercial property sector The government will take a controlling stake of up to 60% in RBS, in return for up to £20bn from the taxpayer. The bank admitted this morning that trading has deteriorated in recent weeks. The chief executive, Sir Fred Goodwin, known as "Fred the Shred" for his cost-cutting reputation, and chairman Sir Tom McKillop are stepping down.
Lloyds, which renegotiated its takeover of HBOS over the weekend, will receive up to £17bn once the merger goes through. This will leave the government owning up to 43.5% of the enlarged group, with Lloyds shareholders owning 36.5% and HBOS's investors just 20%.

A record 37 million items of personal data went missing last year, new research reveals. Most of the data was lost by government officials but councils, NHS trusts, banks, insurance companies and chain stores also mislaid or published personal information about staff or members of the public.
Many losses were caused through CDs going missing in the post, laptop thefts, and inadequate security systems that failed to stop hackers reading information stored on computers. The details lost included those of names, addresses, passports, bank and mortgage accounts, credit cards, hospital records, dates of birth, national insurance numbers, driving licences and telephone numbers.

Originally posted by KrypticCriminal
reply to post by Merriman Weir

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I agree both Labour and the Conservatives are rapidly becoming the same party. If i decide to vote i'll go Lib Dem i think. Not that it really matters. Ive lost all faith in british polotics and in all british politicians.

Paddy Ashdown for PM. He'll sort us out lol.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
I'm thinking of voting the Green Party. My views seem to be most in line with theirs, so that’s who I'll vote, I'm in a Tory safe seat, so not much I can do about it really.

Well, I respect anyone who stands up to be counted and I also respect anyone who votes for the party that best represents their beliefs Regardless of whether they believe their party stands a chance or not.

I believe the reason the BNP got so many votes last time round was due to the immigration policies or lack of policies this government have.

I have no problem with a sensible level of immigration but we are being flooded by foreign nationals that then feed of our already creaky system... News stories like this...

Hospitals and schools are struggling to cope with a huge influx of Eastern European children, new figures show. The number of Polish babies born in UK hospitals has almost quadrupled since the 2004 EU expansion. On current trends, there will be more than 13,000 such births this year, costing the NHS more than £20million.

Polish women are being told to come to Britain for free NHS abortions to avoid strict laws at home. They are being urged to take advantage of cheap flights and hotels as part of a poster campaign which features a semi-naked woman with the words 'my choice' written across her stomach.

Immigration to the UK continued to rise last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). About 590,000 people came to live in Britain in 2008, compared with 574,000 the year before, figures showed. However, a growing number of people have been leaving the UK permanently. About 427,000 people emigrated last year, up from 341,000 in 2007

Originally posted by KrypticCriminal
reply to post by Korg Trinity

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No screw up involved my friend. Labour deliberately opened the flood gates to all of Europe. I think the plan was to boost the economy and lower the unemployment stats. That may have worked temporarily, but now all these extra people is seriously putting the NHS and other organisations under strain. Yet another one of Tony B's great legacies.