A walkout by British postal staff in the capital was starting today amid the spectre of a much more crippling national strike.

Britain’s opt-out from Europe’s 48-hour working week was still intact today after all-night talks collapsed without agreement.

Small businesses in Britain prepared to employ women “of child-bearing age” must be mad, a Euro-MPs said today.

Virtually every British workplace offers some form of flexible working for staff, including reduced hours, part-time arrangements and job-sharing, according to an official report today.