UK chancellor George Osborne said the budget on Wednesday will offer no giveaways and difficult decisions will still have to be made, as he seeks to drum up support for his Conservative Party before May’s election.

The UK Labour Party has hardened its opposition to leaving the European Union, drawing a dividing line with the Conservatives less than eight months before next year’s general election.

David Cameron is "not being straight with the British people" over the cost and complexity of constitutional reform, Ed Balls said.

Some of the damage from the recent floods in the UK could have been prevented if the correct water management techniques had been used, a group of experts has said.

Tracey Connelly – the mother of Baby P – has been released from a British prison, it has emerged.

Former child protection boss Sharon Shoesmith has reached a settlement over her unfair dismissal following the Baby P tragedy in the UK, it was confirmed today.

The London Marathon runners fell silent on the start line today in memory of those who died in the Boston bomb attacks.

Britain's Chancellor, George Osborne, has declared he is in competition with shadow chancellor Ed Balls over who can get the most followers on Twitter.

The UK's Chancellor George Osborne defended his Budget today, saying the British Government had to tackle the nation’s economic problems, which “could be a lot worse”.

George Osborne insisted Britain would not “run away” from its problems after Moody’s downgraded the country’s AAA credit rating.

Labour power couple Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper have not been on a date for a decade, the shadow chancellor has revealed.

Britain, France and Austria have been threatened with the loss of its AAA credit rating amid fears over weaker growth prospects and potential shocks from the eurozone crisis.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequre George Osborne was forced today to acknowledge a grim picture of declining growth and rising unemployment for the UK in the years to come.

The Supreme Court in Britain has rejected applications by the Department for Education and Haringey Council for leave to challenge a landmark ruling that Sharon Shoesmith was unfairly sacked following the Baby P tragedy.

Slow growth in the UK economy will undermine confidence and make it more difficult for the Government to get the deficit down, shadow chancellor Ed Balls warned today.

ALAN Johnson’s ex-bodyguard is facing disciplinary action over allegations that he had an affair with the former shadow chancellor’s wife.

ALAN JOHNSON was appointed to the key role of shadow chancellor in Ed Miliband’s first shadow cabinet yesterday.

Voting opens in Labour’s shadow cabinet elections today, with 49 MPs battling for a place in Ed Miliband’s top team.

LABOUR MPs are jostling for jobs in Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet as attention shifts to the election of his top team.

Ed Miliband today declared the New Labour era over, but insisted the party would not embark on a “lurch to the left” under his leadership.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said today his decision to publicly deny speculation about a gay affair with an aide was “not an easy thing to do”.

VOTING for a new leader of the Labour party is set to begin today, with brothers David and Ed Miliband seen as front runners in an election overshadowed by the party’s controversial previous leaders Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Former UK children’s secretary Ed Balls today declared he was standing in the Labour leadership contest, saying the party needed to listen to the public.

FORMER Cabinet minister Ed Balls was last night sounding out colleagues over a possible bid for the Labour Party leadership.

Former British home secretary Alan Johnson today ruled himself out as a contender for the Labour leadership, announcing he will back David Miliband in the upcoming contest to succeed Gordon Brown.

GORDON BROWN’S crown as leader of the British Labour Party may be crumpled and tarnished but it is still highly coveted.

Formal negotiations between Labour and the Liberal Democrats resumed in the House of Commons today, as the parties struggled to form a viable government five days after the UK general election.

GORDON BROWN said during the general election campaign: “If I couldn’t make a difference any more, then I would go off and do something else.”

SENIOR Labour figures were last night at odds over calls for the party’s supporters to vote tactically in order to keep the Tories out of power.

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.

THE decision by Children’s Secretary Ed Balls to strip former children’s services chief Sharon Shoesmith of her post following the death of Baby P was upheld by the High Court yesterday.

Former children’s services chief Sharon Shoesmith today lost her UK High Court battle over her sacking following the death of Baby P.

JAMES BULGER’S killers were not “intrinsically evil”, Ed Balls said yesterday, as he waded into the row over trying youngsters in adult courts.

The shocking starvation of a seven-year-old girl at the hands of her own mother in England raised questions about social services and led to calls for a senior council official to quit.

THE former head of children’s services at Haringey Council has been financially ruined after being sacked over the Baby P case and will never work again, her lawyer has told the High Court.

The former children’s services chief who lost her job over the Baby P tragedy will today launch a judicial challenge against her sacking.

THE British Government’s position over the Lockerbie row descended further into confusion last night after one of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s closest allies said he had not wanted the bomber freed after all.

One of Gordon Brown’s closest allies suggested today that the British Prime Minister had not wanted the Lockerbie bomber freed.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was today faced with the task of picking up the pieces of his shattered cabinet and fashioning a reshuffle which can restore his authority and preserve his premiership.

THE number of people in Britain with surnames like Cockshott, Balls, Death and Shufflebottom — likely the source of schoolroom laughter — has declined by up to 75% in the last century.

The Justice March For Baby P delivered a petition to 10 Downing Street in London today calling for “urgent far reaching changes to the child protection system”.

Shannon Matthews was taken off the British child protection register on the orders of social services’ managers despite warnings from social workers, it was claimed today.

BRITAIN’S children’s secretary Ed Balls announced laws to protect vulnerable children — but he admitted they would not have saved Baby P’s life.