News

Miller was judged by MPs who know a lot about expenses

Troublemaker regular culture secretary Maria Miller was ordered to repay £5,800 for mortgage-payment claims for her “second” home.

Noxious Nick and foul Farage vomit up opinions - twice

Lib Dem Nick Clegg, whose party was beaten by Elvis in a recent by-election, challenged Ukip’s Nigel Farage to debate him.

A corker of a budget bingo ad goes wrong for Tory toffs

The post-Budget bingo poster blamed on not so poor Grant Shapps, the Tory chairman, was designed in the Treasury and signed off by bungling baron George Osborne. After the advertisement highlighting cuts to bingo tax and beer duty was issued it was dubbed a condescending public relations disaster.

Council leaders' junket to housing fair opens Cannes of worms

Housing campaigners occupied a luxury flat in the Strata Tower in Elephant and Castle, south London, last Saturday. At the same time London mayor Boris Johnson and several council bosses were attending annual property development fair Mipim in Cannes, France.

Bonuses - a perfect reward for success, failure, etc, etc

Bankers' bonuses; School dinners; Pope makes woman cry; Racist Tories aped by Labour; Lib Dem losers; On safari in Deptford; Teather loves cuts but hates hunger

Ukip whines about speaking English to whip up racism

Troublemaker feels sorry for people sharing a train with Ukip's Nigel Farage, says 'let them pick strawberries and worries about the management structure of Mexican drug gangs

It's the rich landlords who are really cashing in on benefits

The hard right Ukip regularly claims that benefit claimants are a problem. But it seems they aren’t such a problem if there’s a money to be made.

Mixed marks for Gove with Nazis out but Scout scabs in

Troublemaker rarely celebrates a win for Tory education secretary Michael Gove.

Vladimir Putin’s protest park is miles away and a protest free zone

This weeks Troublemaker leads on Putin's uncharacteristic burst of openness, Gove in Jag crash outside Buckingham Palace, Pickles claiming for biscuits and the Taliban hounding the SAS in Afghanistan, plus many more

Lobbyists are unconvincing over the minister for fracking

This weeks Troublemaker with stories on fracking, a former spy fallen on hard times, Philip Hammond's war weariness and much more

Cuts to red tape put bosses’ profit above workers’ safety

The government is planning to scrap or amend more than 3,000 regulations.

Climate reporting - It’s the end of the world as we know it, but TV feels fine

With freezing weather confining millions of Americans to their homes for days on end recently, you’d think their TV news would want to discuss climate change. But you’d be wrong.

Ukip in Brussels gravy train trousering hypocrisy scam

Troublemaker looks into Ukip's Euroexpenses, portraits of our leaders and the great academies scam

The things they say

This week in quotes

Complaints drown out Tory hunt for flood opportunity

Troublemaker finds the Tories making the most of floods, expenses and fox hunting. The police invest in removals, and some people worked very hard for gongs