Battered Britain has been told to expect a triple threat from the elements, with warnings in place for heavy rainfall, gale-force winds and snow.

Thousands of homes along the River Thames have been told to prepare for “significant flooding”, as the number of severe flood warnings in the south of England swelled to 16.

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

Politicians in the UK have been accused of sparking an “open season on ethnic minorities” after the Government issued new guidelines to tackle illegal Traveller sites.

The British Government should take steps to claw back some of the pay-off given to a former council chief executive who presided over a sickening grooming scandal, an MP has said.

Big supermarkets and other major retailers have been in talks with the Government about relaxing Sunday trading laws after longer opening hours were allowed during the Olympics.

The UK's coalition parties have suffered heavy defeats in local elections in England and Wales.

ENGLISH police flooded the streets last night to ensure weekend drinking does not reignite the rioting that swept across London and other cities this week, shocking Britons and sullying the country’s image a year before it hosts the Olympics.

The chairwoman of the UK's Electoral Commission described the current system as “Victorian” today after voters were left queuing in their hundreds outside polling stations when the ballot boxes closed.

Conservative Party leader David Cameron said today a new British government must ensure there was no repeat of chaotic election day scenes in which people were still queuing in their hundreds outside polling stations when the ballot boxes closed.

Three former UK cabinet ministers have been suspended by the Labour Party over allegations they were prepared to use their position to influence government policy for cash.

BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown fought to quell a challenge to his leadership yesterday from two senior figures in his Labour Party, but the rebellion exposed a badly divided party months before a national election that polls predict Labour will lose.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was today facing the prospect of a dramatic challenge to his leadership after two former Cabinet ministers issued a call for the issue to be resolved "once and for all".

CONSERVATIVE leader David Cameron hailed the return of former chancellor Kenneth Clarke to his front bench team yesterday as senior figures dismissed suggestions that the move would be divisive.

British prime minister Gordon Brown was today facing pressure from his own MPs for a radical change in direction after a nightmare at the polls saw Labour slump to its worst results for a generation.

THE most ambitious traffic calming scheme in Britain crept in quietly yesterday with none of the transport chaos that had been feared.