Voters go to the polls in by-election

Voting begins today in a closely-watched byelection in Scotland. The poll is being used to gage whether Gordon Brown's recovery in the opinion polls amidst his performance during the economic crisis will translate into Labour  victories."POLLING got under way today in...

Families flee river of ice after freak storm hits town

The bizarre fall weather has continued in the UK, with a freak ice storm hitting the British town of Devon."Dozens of people, including a mother in labour, had to be rescued after a freak hailstorm left a Devon town cut off by floodwater.More than a foot of hail fell on...

UK Immigration "to be cut" as unemployment rises

As Britain's economic climate chills, immigration to the UK will prove more difficult to those seeking to enter the country as unemployment rises. The UK uses a points-based immigration system (similar to Australia's), and introducing an upper limit to the number of...

Labour education U-turn scraps Sats tests for 14-year-olds

Twelve years after it was instituted, the stage three tests in the UK for 14-year-olds has been scrapped. It's a U-turn for Labour, which has supported the reforms, instituted by the Tories in the early '90s, for many years. The tests were a crucial part in determining a...

MPs to vote on smacking ban in UK

The UK parliament is today to consider a measure to ban hitting children as punishment. The bill would give children the same protection against physical assault as adults, eliminating the defense for parents of "reasonable punishment," which allows physical assault against...