Chester City Conservative Councillor Max Drury was found guilty of harrassing his former business partner, left the Conservative Party and is now also facing a council investigation:

Deputy Labour group leader Bob Rudd has made an official complaint about Cllr Max Drury to head of legal services Charles Kerry, alleging the former Tory has brought the office of councillor into disrepute.

Cllr Drury was found guilty of harassing his former business partner, James Meadows…

The court heard that on one occasion Cllr Drury, who has since resigned from the Conservative Party, turned up at the victim’s house and threatened: “My brothers from Wrexham

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The Guardian has an exclusive interview in Saturday’s magazine with the Chancellor, Alistair Darling:

Britain is facing “arguably the worst” economic downturn in 60 years which will be “more profound and long-lasting” than people had expected, Alistair Darling, the chancellor, has told the Guardian today.

In the government’s gravest assessment of the economy, which follows a warning from a Bank of England policymaker that 2 million people could be unemployed by Christmas, Darling admits he had no idea how serious the credit crunch would become.

Darling’s blunt remarks lay bare the unease in the highest ranks of the cabinet that the downturn

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Yesterday Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats proposed a series of measures to help tackle the soaring number of repossession:

Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, said change was needed urgently to stop the “downward spiral” of Britain’s housing market.

Proposals include a mortgage rescue scheme, which would allow families struggling with repayments to sell all or part of their house to a housing association or private firm and then stay in the property as tenants.

The government should also allow councils and housing associations to borrow money to buy up land and empty new homes “to help replenish Britain’s much-depleted stock

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