BRITAIN’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday suspended ex-minister Elliot Morley from the Parliamentary Labour Party and an aide to Tory leader David Cameron quit his post, as the Westminster expenses scandal claimed its first scalps.

Gordon Brown today ordered Labour’s chief whip to probe details of ex-minister Elliot Morley’s £16,000 (€17,807) expenses claim for mortgage interest he did not pay.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was set to reshuffle his Cabinet this morning after Labour suffered a humiliating defeat in local council elections.

A LOCAL authority is preparing an injunction to halt an allegedly illegal quarry operation in an EU-designated area of special conservation.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair avoided a humiliating defeat in the House of Commons last night by a mere five votes.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair breathed a huge sigh of relief tonight after he scraped home by just five votes in the row over university top-up fees.

Tony Blair appeared to have turned the tide in his tuition fees battle today by winning over the leading Labour rebel.

The British government tonight accepted making mistakes in its handling of last year’s foot-and-mouth crisis - as the last of three reports into the outbreak was published.

Former agriculture minister Nick Brown will give evidence tomorrow to the European Parliament’s special inquiry into the handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Vaccination should be considered to control future outbreaks of foot-and-mouth, former British agriculture minister Nick Brown said today.

The fight against foot-and-mouth is finally being won, Tony Blair said today, just days before he is expected to call the next general election.

The British Government is set to announce a major relaxation of its foot-and-mouth slaughter policy.

A slaughterman who may have contracted foot-and-mouth disease was today awaiting the outcome of tests to see if he has the illness.

The foot-and-mouth outbreak could have been started deliberately by someone who stole a test-tube of the virus from a laboratory in Britain.

The British Government is to delay a decision on a vaccination ‘‘firebreak’’ to try to control the spread of foot-and-mouth, Downing Street said today.

Pigswill, the possible source of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, is to be banned in Britain.

The British Government is considering vaccinating animals against foot-and-mouth disease.

The British Government is blaming the foot-and-mouth outbreak on illegal foreign meat intended for a Chinese restaurant.

A worldwide appeal for vets has gone out as the British Government announced plans for speeding up the foot-and-mouth cull.

Britain's Agriculture Minister Nick Brown has been branded "a murderer" by protesters angry at his handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Tony Blair has ordered a series of moves to try to speed up the Government's response to the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Britain's chief vet Jim Scudamore is visiting Cumbria to explain the Government's planned pre-emptive slaughter of up to 500,000 healthy animals to farmers.

The Minister for Agriculture is to meet with his EU counterparts later today for discussions on the foot-and-mouth crisis.

The foot-and-mouth epidemic is likely to persist for several months, British Agriculture Minister Nick Brown has warned.

The number of confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth in Britain has now topped 300 as the controversy over the planned mass cull of healthy animals continues.

The British Government is facing further calls to abandon plans for a mass slaughter of healthy animals which may have come into contact with foot-and-mouth disease.

Britain's farming industry faces months of torture as the toll from foot-and-mouth disease continues to rise.

British farmers are bracing themselves for a mass slaughter of hundreds of thousands of healthy animals in a bid to halt the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

A big expansion of the slaughter programme to try to combat the spread of foot-and-mouth has been announced by the British Government.

British Agriculture Minister Nick Brown is expected to announce a "pre-emptive strike" against foot-and-mouth disease.

The British Government is resisting pressure from countryside leaders to delay elections because of the impact foot-and-mouth could have on campaigning.

Soldiers could be used to cull wild animals as British Government officials continue to combat the foot and mouth outbreak.

Farmers are preparing for the foot and mouth crisis to spread further after the disease took hold in two new counties.

British Agriculture Minister Nick Brown says he is absolutely certain the foot and mouth crisis is under control, despite a record 25 cases being confirmed today.

The number of confirmed outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease has risen to 151.

Britain has responded to Irish criticism of its handling of the Foot and Mouth outbreak.

Former England skipper Alan Shearer today followed in the footsteps of such luminaries as Nelson Mandela and Bob Geldof when he was granted the freedom of Newcastle.

Britain's farmers are facing weeks more of foot-and-mouth misery as Britain's top vet warned the crisis will still last a long time and the number of outbreaks continues to rise.

The British Government has announced the early release of compensation for the crisis-hit farming community as the number of cases of foot and mouth disease rose to 52.

Another five cases of foot and mouth disease have been confirmed in Britain, bringing the total to 48.

A fresh case of foot and mouth disease was confirmed today in Cornwall, the county's first outbreak of the disease.

The number of confirmed cases of foot and mouth disease in Britain has reached 16.

Vets from around the EU are considering wider measures to ensure Britain's foot-and-mouth disease outbreak does not hit mainland Europe.

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has vowed that the UK Government will take all necessary steps to combat the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.