They know the Tories are dipping. But we are still losing. We are not winning. I don't think I can stress this enoughSo, coming back to the field of screams, the chamber of dipshits, I have to say, the atmosphere has certainly picked up. Last time I came in for a coffee the only sound was the soft shuffle of herds of wonks heading to the stationer

Lib Dem leader says journalists need to look beyond hung parliament, as it will be clear who voters wantAsk Nick Clegg who he will back in the event of a hung parliament, and he dismisses it. That, he says, is the kind of inside baseball question that political journalists obsess about, but real people don't.Earlier this week, he set out this posi

Development secretary writes to David Cameron after mystery of who derailed private members' bill designed to protect poorest countriesDouglas Alexander, the development minister, has written to David Cameron accusing the Conservatives of deliberately scuppering a private members' bill to prevent so-called vulture funds preying on the world's po

Liberal Democrat leader discusses how he will decide the identity of the next prime ministerAlong with Allegra Stratton, I have conducted an interview with Nick Clegg on many trains and phones. Givien his ubiquitous media presence ahead of his Spring conference - and why not - it was going to be hard for us to crack open some new ground.The media

If Labour has given up on some of its marginal seats, as some say, then nobody has told EdgbastonThe Birmingham Edgbaston Labour office is a place kept cosy by conviction – and a small heater. Four of the volunteers are still wearing their coats. Caroline Badley, the enthusiastic campaign coordinator, who is also a volunteer, is even wearing a wo

New plant in Scotland will have to prove that carbon capture technology worksThe first application to build a coal plant in Britain since energy secretary Ed Miliband introduced tough new environmental rules will be submitted next week, the Guardian has learnt.UK-based conglomerate Peel Group is pressing ahead with the £3bn project to build a 1.6G

Kraft boss Irene Rosenfeld has been conspicuous by her absence since Cadbury's takeover by the US food group She's named after a Greek goddess and stands astride a $50bn sales colossus but Irene Rosenfeld, the boss of Kraft Foods and new owner of Cadbury, is nowhere to be seen.Whispers started in the anxious days that followed the Cadbury board'

Political director Charlie Whelan says phone bank operation is largest ever undertaken by a British unionBritain's largest union is mobilising its members to canvass for Labour in key marginal constituencies, and help counteract the money being poured into the areas by the Conservative election team.Unite's political director, Charlie Whelan, who

India has become "the pharmacy of the world", home to dozens of generic copycat drug companies that have been producing expensive medicines at dirt-cheap prices that the poorest countries can afford. Famously, Mumbai-based Cipla forced down the prices of Aids drugs some years ago with the launch of a twice a day pill, which then became the staple

Lib Dem leader condemns bankers as 'Scargills in pinstripes' and says electorate, not him, will decide who is next PMNick Clegg is to call for a 10% tax on bank profits to fund a £2bn job creation programme to rescue victims of the recession.In a Guardian interview, the Liberal Democrat leader condemned bankers for behaving like ''Arthur Scarg

Patrick Blower: Livedraw: Imagining England along the route of the proposed London to Birmingham hi-speed rail when it opens in 15 yearsPatrick Blower

Dozens killed as two suicide bombers try to blow up military convoy passing busy marketA bombing in the eastern city of Lahore has killed at least 43 people – the fifth terrorist attack this week as extremists in Pakistan demonstrate their continued ability to strike.The bloodiest terrorist strike in Pakistan this year was carried out by two atta

• Decision taken in the interests of the club• Storrie will stay on as a consultantPeter Storrie's reign at Portsmouth has come to an end after the club announced that he had stepped down as their chief executive.Portsmouth's administrator, Andrew Andronikou, said Storrie made the decision after consulting his friends and family and decided i

Political director Charlie Whelan says phone bank operation is largest ever undertaken by a British unionBritain's largest union is mobilising its members to canvass for Labour in key marginal constituencies, and help counteract the money being poured into the areas by the Conservative election team.Unite's political director, Charlie Whelan, who

Report for United States Bankruptcy Court says City law firm approved off balance sheet transactions that disguised true state of Lehman Brothers' financesLinklaters, one of London's premier law firms, is battling to defend its reputation after a US report into the failure of Lehman Brothers showed it approved controversial deals that shifted bil

Moscow signs agreement that will see Russia help construct up to 20 atomic plantsIndia and Russia today signed a nuclear co-operation agreement, which paves the way for the building of about a dozen nuclear reactors in India, with Russian help, over the next few decades.The agreement came at the end of talks between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir

Socialists and Greens expect significant gains in regional elections as ruling party blamed for poor economic situationNicolas Sarkozy faces an embarrassing setback at the polls over the next week as France votes in elections that look likely to hand a significant victory to the opposition Socialist party.Although not officially on the ballot for t

• Decision taken in the interests of the club• Storrie will stay on as a consultantPeter Storrie's reign at Portsmouth has come to an end after the club announced that he had stepped down as their chief executive.Portsmouth's administrator, Andrew Andronikou, said Storrie made the decision after consulting his friends and family and decided i

• Former Boro keeper stands by for Chelsea league debut• Hilario ruled out of West Ham game with groin injuryChelsea's reserve goalkeeper Ross Turnbull will make his Premier League debut for the club against West Ham United tomorrow after injury ruled out their first and second-choice keepers.Carlo Ancelotti's side will be without Petr Cech a

The last time these teams met was in December at Eastlands when Mark Hughes was sacked and replaced by Roberto Mancini immediately after City's 4-3 victory. Back then Sunderland were a month into a run of 14 Premier League games without a win that forced the chairman, Niall Quinn, to publicly back Steve Bruce by declaring Sunderland's manager wil

Then find your way back with NMC's music map: music lovers could spend hours in these two amazing and little-publicised sitesSomething for the weekend: a couple of sites that you could profitably lose a few idle hours between Six Nations games at the weekend. First up, NMC's Music Map, a marvellously contentious piece of gimmickry that shows the

Micro-blogging service Twitter's user growth has almost levelled off since September 2009, according to a studyTwitter's growth seems to have lost its momentum, according to a new study. Growth in the micro-blogging service's number of users peaked at nearly 20% last April, but had dropped down to 0.15% in December 2009, says a study by Barracud

Print publishers are hopeful the iPad will hit the streets next month. There are already several test examples out there. Some blend print and online as BERG's version for the innovative Swedish publishing house Bonnier shows, others ues a more online approach as the video of De Telegraaf shows. Publishers are hoping the iPad will encourage peopl

Lack of staff means only those in first class will be served hot mealsBA passengers who are lucky enough to get on a flight during the cabin crew strike face a cold meal or, if they happen to be Jewish or Muslim, no meal at all.BA said it will only be able to serve hot meals to customers in first class on strike-affected flights during a three-day

A new website ranking MPs' anti-authoritarian credentials reveals that the Liberal Democrats are the party of freedomOne sure-fire way to bring most Lib Dems out in hives is to ask them the question, "Do you think of yourself as rightwing or leftwing?" This right/left dichotomy – an archaic hangover from the French revolutionary period – is

Edward McMillan-Scott accuses David Cameron of 'propitiating extremism abroad' and says he fears that on Europe the Tory leader says one thing in opposition and will do another in governmentThe former leader of the Conservatives in the European parliament has joined the Liberal Democrats, the party announced today.Edward McMillan-Scott accused D

If the government exempts the royals from the Freedom of Information Act, it must mean they've got something to hideLast week, the constitutional reform and governance bill received its second reading in parliament. It passed easily and is now on its way to the Lords. A little-noticed aspect of this bill is an amendment to the Freedom of Informati

Those from poor, African American and Native American backgrounds most at riskThe death rate of women giving birth in the US is worse than in 40 other countries, including nearly all the industrialised countries, Amnesty International said today in a report that describes the country's approach to maternity care as "disgraceful and scandalous".A

My latest for Cif went live this morning. It's about Boris's Cycle Safety Plan and the majority of commenters have, all too predictably, been ignorant and boring Boris trolls. However, there were welcome exceptions. I thought some of their contributions deserved highlighting here. Here's one from Constituent:In Copenhagen, many roads have cycle

As we prepare to elect the MPs who should safeguard our rights, what 10 questions on liberty would you put to party candidates?In about eight weeks' time we will be voting not just for a new government, but a new parliament of representatives, in whose hands will lie the future of our free society.We want your help to draft a list of questions tha

General election manifesto to encourage creation of community co-ops for getting good deals on insulation and solar panelsHome owners will be encouraged to club together to negotiate discounts from their energy bills under plans to be put forward in Labour's general election manifesto.Such community energy co-operatives could also be used to get g

Tories' Ulster Unionist allies dealt another blow as Lady Herman says vote went against all she thought the party stood forThe Tories' Ulster Unionist allies were dealt another blow today when MP Lady (Sylvia) Hermon denounced their decision to vote against this week's devolution of policing and justice.Hermon said the no vote by the UUP had bee

In providing key information to emergency carers, the NHS's summary care record offers patients better protectionThe chairman of the BMA, Dr Hamish Meldrum, declared this week that NHS consultants and GPs "have coped up until now without an electronic record of patient details". And he is right – but at the expense of several high-profile deat

If the calibre of panellists on the women-only Question Time said anything, it's that the main parties aren't bothered about womenNow seriously, David, where was the dry white wine? If last night's women-only Question Time was genuinely supposed to appeal to those mainstream mums and West Lothian women persistently referenced by Gordon Brown, Da

• Fan ejected from club TV show for wearing scarf • Steward sacked for returning confiscated bannerManchester United are so concerned about the increasing success of the green-and-gold protests that the club have effectively forbidden Sir Alex Ferguson's players from speaking about it publicly and imposed a series of other measures aimed at c

The hosts can return to the top of the division, for 24 hours at least, with victory and will recognise this as an opportunity to exorcise last month's stodgy form, even if Tuesday's visit of José Mourinho and Internazionale might be something of a distraction. "We are going for three trophies," said John Terry. "Only winning will do." West

The day's big issues as they happened, including your favourite links. Meanwhile, you can follow us on Twitter here7.58am: Good morning and welcome to our daily sports news blog. Throughout the day we'll update this page with news, links and what's expected to happen in the hours ahead. Time permitting, we'll try to wade in below the line, answ

• Former Boro keeper stands by for Chelsea league debut• Hilario ruled out of West Ham game with groin injuryChelsea's reserve goalkeeper Ross Turnbull will make his Premier League debut for the club against West Ham United tomorrow after injury ruled out their first and second-choice keepers.Carlo Ancelotti's side will be without Petr Cech a

Both of these sides remain in grave danger of returning from whence they came last summer. They do have company in tottering on the Premier League precipice, however, and victory for either at Turf Moor could prove crucial by May. But wins have proved elusive for the promoted pair recently: Burnley have managed one in their previous 18 league encou

Try telling these clubs that the Europa League is a turn-off. Both are showing the form and confidence to suggest they could be involved in the competition next season and, as such, will view this fixture as pivotal. Two points separate Birmingham in eighth from Everton in ninth and with Lee Bowyer available again having recovered from illness, Ale