The mother of a severely wounded serviceman criticised the Ministry of Defence yesterday for "hiding" the sacrifice made by troops who are badly maimed. As the pressure on British forces increases, Olive Newton said she was angry that her son's plight had received no media coverage and accused the MoD of only publicising incidents when it was forced to because British troops had been killed.   more »

Identity cards could provide a back door for the taxman to snoop on people's affairs using a database of National Insurance numbers. The card system will use an existing NI database to log details, potentially making it easier for tax inspectors to keep tabs. Officials had hoped to base ID cards on a National Identity Register but will instead use the Customer Information System run by the Department of Work and Pensions.   more »

TfL have published their plans to significantly change the way that the London Congestion Charge works, by basing it on the level of pollution a vehicle causes: the most polluting ones would be charged £25/day to drive into central London, dropping to £8 for less polluting and there being no charge fro the cleanest ones.   more »