Tony Blair gave his strong personal backing to Ed Miliband’s internal Labour reforms on the eve of a special party conference that will approve the sweeping changes on Saturday.

It was a much-needed cold shower, a reality check for the Conservative Eurosceptics who thought Angela Merkel would arrive for her high-profile visit to London bearing gifts for them.

The Government was accused of having no strategy to combat child poverty after Iain Duncan Smith was forced to drop his plans to bring in a new set of targets to tackle the problem.

Mrs Merkel is the third representative of the German government to be invited to speak to both Houses of Parliament since the Second World War

The move follows criticism that the current system gives much more help to the 40 per cent who go university than to the 60 per cent who do no

David Cameron has tried to reassure Conservative backbenchers that he is not angling for another coalition with the Liberal Democrats after next year’s general election.

Nick Clegg has made a fresh attempt to put his party’s debacle over tuition fees behind it by insisting that the £9,000-a-year maximum charge has not deterred young people from going to university.

A Labour Government would streamline local public services to save money, Chris Leslie, the shadow Chief Treasury Secretary, will pledge today.

Alex Salmond has branded the UK Government “thieves” who have plundered Scotland’s “black gold” as he and David Cameron clashed over the future of North Sea oil and gas reserves.

Ukip took the second place, while LibDems lost their deposit