A series of reports, and Wednesday’s budget in Britain, confirm that being average describes an increasingly unattractive place in this world. “Average” now describes something far less secure than it did a decade ago. Social advances realised over generations are being rolled back, inch by inch, expectation by expectation, opportunity by opportunity.

Parties are keeping British voters “in the dark” about their plans for the economy, experts warned in a scathing analysis of the lack of detail in manifesto deficit-reduction promises.

David Cameron’s general election campaign ran into its first setback within hours of his visit to Buckingham Palace to inform the Queen of the dissolution of parliament as a respected economic think tank challenged his claim that a Labour victory would result in tax rises of more than £3,000 (€4,100) for every working family.

Britain’s government should stop using a discredited measure of inflation for selling index-linked bonds which is costing taxpayers billions a year, an official review said yesterday.

Weather's crap, weekend's miles away, here's what's on telly tonight.

The children of the 1960s and 1970s will only be better off than the previous generation when they retire due to inherited wealth, a leading economic think-tank in the UK has found.

AUGUST-BORN children are less likely to attend a leading university and more likely to study practical courses than their September-born peers, research suggests.

Age Action Ireland is calling on the Government to reverse its cuts to the gas/electricity unit allocation for the elderly.

THE pain of Britain’s forthcoming spending squeeze — the most sustained of its kind since WWII — may yet force the government to rethink its strategy, the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies told Reuters.

OLDER Americans suffer more chronic disease than their English counterparts, but the English die earlier, according to a study.

BRITAIN’S poor and powerful clashed yesterday over who will lose out most under austerity measures that will slash benefits, jobs and government services to reduce the country’s crippling debts.

DAVID CAMERON said yesterday he would “love a Portillo moment” by ousting cabinet minister Ed Balls as he launched a campaign raid into the Education Secretary’s backyard.

Labour fought back today against charges that it has not been straight with voters over public finances after an independent economic think tank warned Britain was heading for cuts on a scale unseen for a generation.

Britain is facing public spending cuts on a scale unseen for a generation whoever wins the general election, an influential think-tank warned today as it accused the main parties of failing to come clean with voters.

Gordon Brown will seek today to focus on the economy as he tries to claw back the initiative in the British General Election campaign from the resurgent Liberal Democrats.

GORDON BROWN yesterday launched a distinctly Blairite Labour manifesto for the general election, promising to reform public services to “put people in charge” and pledging not to raise income tax rates.

The UK government needs to find another £13bn (€14.8bn) in tax hikes or spending cuts over the next five years to help restore the UK's ailing public finances, a leading economic forecaster warned today.

A record £23bn (€25.9bn) in public borrowing during November is set to heap more pressure on British Chancellor Alistair Darling today.

THE month in which a child is born can influence their school performance and, later, chances of going to college and having a successful career, according to new research.

Manual workers suffer the effects of old age 15 years earlier than people in office jobs, new research has revealed.