The fate of a network of charging points to power low-emission cars also hangs in the balance. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images A government grant scheme to give motorists up to £5,000 off the cost of a new electric car has been cut by 80%, opposition politicians and green campaigners claimed today. The fate of a [...]

John Woodward: ‘There wasn’t even a discussion.’ Photograph: Yakir Zur/PR company handout Having first seen the bus marked “Quango Cuts” hurtling towards us two years ago, I was certain we had proved our value. But then, last Friday, the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt carefully backed the bus up, put his foot on the gas and [...]

Reckitt, the group behind household favourites such as Vanish and Cillit Bang, has seen rival Procter & Gamble muscle in on its market Reckitt Benckiser, the company behind household brands Cillit Bang and Vanish, today reported its first quarter-on-quarter sales decline in Europe as rival products muscled in under the kitchen sink. Chief executive Bart [...]

A US marine and his translator meet Afghan villagers. While politicians and military commanders talked of the battle for ‘hearts and minds’, the war logs show a very different reality. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images More than a decade ago, when the cold war was well and truly over, American and British strategists began to celebrate [...]