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I've long been a decorative smoker. One daily roll-up hasn't imperilled my health much, and it's rescued me from the ranks of the self-righteous. I've relished the dash of badness, but my indulgence has come at a price: complicity. My more heavily addicted husband has smoked from the age of 19. So long as I join him in the odd postprandial drag, I'm a bad influence. Last month I switched to an e-cig. I'm a convert. Sleek, black, and easily confused with a fine-point felt-tip, this newfangled "nicotine delivery system" is dead cool. The gently warm vapour ingeniously replicates the...

A popular textbook used by institutions and teachers to teach English as a second language has been found to have a disturbing anti-Israel undertone. The textbook contains a map of the Middle East, labelling and identifying the countries displayed and presenting it as part of an exercise for a “Jordanian student at Greenhill College”. The map however, leaves off the label of “Israel”, instead replacing it with the words “Occupied Palestine”. The book, “Skills in English: Writing Level 1” is utilized by teachers across the United Kingdom and further afield. The Duke of Edinburgh ESU English Language Award judges called...

Elections have consequences. One of them is continuing US support for the European Project and the process of ‘ever closer union’, following Barack Obama’s re-election last November. Had Mitt Romney won, there would have been a very different approach towards the EU, with a far greater emphasis upon advancing ties with nation states in Europe as opposed to currying favour with Brussels. Romney’s approach was distinctly Eurosceptic, with frequent warnings against America ending up like Europe, with its big government, high tax approach. As David Blair has reported, Philip Gordon, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian...

The textbook was issued by Garnet Education, an independent English-Language Teaching (ELT) instructor in Britain. The textbook contains a map with “Occupied Palestine” in place of Israel, according to media reports.

Since Ed and I have each written about the latest round of Obamacare-exacerbated premium hikes, let’s check in on Britain’s single-payer system, which many American liberals fetishize: An official inquiry into failings at [Stafford] hospital, where between 400 and 1,200 patients died needlessly due to a catalogue of failings and appalling standards of care, is due to be published later this month. The report is expected to blame managers who cut costs and reduced staffing levels in an attempt to hit "efficiency" targets and win foundation status. Before taking control of the health service, Sir David ran the health authority...

Britain, and especially London, has become a popular place for tens of thousands of southern Europeans in search of work as the governments of Spain, Portugal and Italy continue to impose austerity measures. 5,350 Spaniards and 5,370 Italians were allocated national insurance numbers in London in the first quarter of 2012, according to The Times newspaper. The number of national insurance registrations for Spaniards across Britain has soared by 25% year on year. The unemployment rate is more than 25% in Spain. …

<p>British Fashion Council member David Gandy has vowed to make London the 'menswear capital of the world.'</p> <p>Bizarre hats made out of wooden planks, models with 'blacked out' faces, and some ankle swinging sportswear were among some of the truly outlandish designs which kicked off Men's fashion week today.</p>

'These new computer-generated images put into context the huge scale of the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. The Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) has released a series of powerful posters illustrating the sheer size of the warships. The computer-generated images show the warships dwarfing some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. Another notable poster is of the under-construction HMS Queen Elizabeth berthed alongside in Portsmouth, Hants. The ACA is a consortium of defence companies behind the construction of Portsmouth's newest carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. Ian Booth, programme director of the ACA, said: 'These...

For years, the Elites of the West have cranked up the myth of Man Made Global Warming as a means first and foremost to control the lives and behaviors of their populations. Knowing full well that their produce in China and sell in the West model and its consiquent spiral downward in wages and thus standards of living, was unsustainable, the elites moved to use this new "science" to guilt trip and scare monger their populations into smaller and more conservatives forms of living. In other words, they coasted them into the poverty that the greed and treason of those...

t didn’t take them long, did it? The turkey carcass has barely been cleared, the last dregs of scotch remain, but nanny’s apron is freshly starched and she is ready to “do something.” Andy Burnham the Shadow Health Secretary wants to introduce legal limits on the sugar, fat, and salt in food, especially breakfast cereals. "A lot of the time people don't realise just how high in fat, salt and sugar some of these products are, even when you're trying to make healthier choices. The industry needs to show more responsibility and come forward with products that are going to...

The Prince of Wales has disclosed that the prospect of becoming a grandfather has reinforced his environmental beliefs because he does not want to “hand on an increasingly dysfunctional world”. The Prince, an outspoken campaigner on environmental issues, told ITV’s This Morning that he did not want the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s child, due to be born this summer, to ask him why he had not done more to tackle issues like climate change. … Charles has been a strong advocate of taking action to protect the environment for many years. In 2007 he set up The Prince’s Rainforest...

'A Scotsman who married in a kilt, supports Rangers, likes white pudding and drinks Irn-Bru is now being tipped as the possible ruler of Germany. After climbing high and fast through the ranks of Germany’s CDU conservative party, pundits speculate great things lie in store for 41-year-old David McAllister, who is up for re-election as governor in the state of Lower Saxony later this month. The son of a German mother and a Scottish father from the tough Gorbals area of Glasgow, he is recognised as one of the leading figures in Germany's ruling Christian Democratic Union party. He has...

There have been further clashes between police and Loyalist protesters in east Belfast, with reports of shots being fired and a 38-year-old man being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. The violence, which flared for the third night in a row, is linked to last month's decision by councillors to limit the number of days the union flag is flown over Belfast City Hall.

David Cameron says he wants to stay on as British prime minister until 2020, calling his agenda of reforms enough to keep him busy through another term. … Cameron told the newspaper (Sunday Telegraph) there was no turning back on policies such as allowing same-sex marriage or the protection of foreign-aid spending, which have been unpopular with his party’s grass roots. He urged critics in his party to “stop complaining.” …

Girlguiding UK is considering the removal of any mention of God or the Queen from its oath. In one of the most controversial shakeups in its 102-year history, the organization has launched a consultation that could lead to significant changes to the promise Guides are expected to take when they join. It would be the first major reform for the Guides, which boasts more than half a million members, to be initiated under Julie Bentley, its new chief executive. The former head of The Family Planning Association, who took over in November, ruffled feathers when she described the Guides as...

A landmark speech by British Prime Minister David Cameron later this month will trigger campaigns to persuade young people to chose between staying in or opting out of the EU, as the issue moves to the fore of the country’s domestic political agenda in 2013. Representatives for and against UK membership in the EU told EurActiv they are on stand-by to set campaigns in motion to woo the country’s biggest swing demographic: those aged between 18 and 44, in a year which will see Europe move to the forefront in domestic politics. … The prime minister will seek to mollify...

The government should ban high-sugar cereals such as Coco Pops and other foods that are contributing to an obesity epidemic among British children, the shadow health secretary has urged. Regulations limiting the amount of sugar, salt and fat in processed foods should be considered if the food industry does not take action itself, according to Labour’s Andy Burnham, who has begun a consultation on how to tackle obesity. Burnham highlighted the case of breakfast cereals, saying many aimed at children are more than one-third sugar by weight. …

US treasure hunters ready to snatch gold from the jaws of Victory US treasure hunters should be banned from raising the wreck of one of Britain’s greatest warships and taking some of the millions of pounds of gold coins she is believed to contain, leading archaeologists and descendants of the crew demand today. By Victoria Ward 8:00AM GMT 05 Jan 2013 They said that allowing HMS Victory, predecessor to Nelson’s flagship, to be exploited for commercial gain would be a “flagrant breach” of the military covenant and an “appalling betrayal” of more than 1,000 Royal Navy sailors who died. The...

Now is the time for ‘real leadership’ and an end to ‘counter-productive unilateral actions,’ says State Department spokeswoman The United States on Wednesday urged Israel and the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table and resume, in earnest, long-dormant efforts to hammer out a comprehensive peace deal. “As we turn the calendar to 2013… now is the time for leaders on both sides to display real leadership, to focus on the work that’s necessary to return to direct negotiations,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in remarks cited by AFP. The US was asking both sides “to clearly demonstrate that...

Official statistics show that almost half of embryos used to help women conceive through in vitro fertilization (IVF) were thrown away during or after the process….Since August 1991 more than 3.5 million human embryos have been created, producing only 235,480 “gestational sacs” or evidence of successful implantation. Of the embryos created, almost 840,000 were put into storage for future use and more than 2000 were stored for donation. Almost 5,900 were set aside for scientific research.Almost 1.4 million embryos were implanted in the hope of beginning pregnancies, with fewer than one in six resulting in a pregnancy.Nearly 1.7 million were...