7 February 2012 Last updated at 21:55 ET By Andrew Fagg BBC News The final decision on fitness to work is taken by Job Centre staff At least 35,000 people applying for sickness benefit are waiting longer than 13 weeks, the Department for Work and Pension

The decision by an immigration judge to grant bail to Abu Qatada, one of the world’s most dangerous fanatics, is a truly perverse and disturbing state of affairs. But although Mr Justice Mitting caused outrage by giving Osama Bin Laden’s ambassador in Eu

Mr Timms said he was "very disappointed" that the David Cameron was intent on forcing a series of controversial welfare reforms to go ahead despite being defeated in the House of Lords. "The House of Lords got these decisions right and the government is

Stephen Timms MP, Labour’s Shadow Employment Minister, responding to the NAO Introduction of the Work Programme Report, said: “This is a scathing report. Last week we learnt unemployment hit a 17 year high, and today we learn that the National Audit Offi

Labour MP Stephen Timms has urged the UK government to review games tax relief for its forthcoming budget. The ex-financial secretary to the Treasury made the suggestion in response to figures from trade body TIGA, highlighting the number of studio closu

In this week's New Statesman, I have a piece on how Labour is now fixated on a political and economic agenda set by the Tories, who are much more adept at controlling the narrative and "framing" issues. I refer to the work of US cognitive linguist and pr