Far from saving money, as the act intended, it has pushed costs up, since local authorities are less efficient than the Benefits Agency.

ECONOMIST: Asylum-seekers

The forces of darkness (pun intended) seem to be massing against Rebecca Harris's Daylight Saving Bill (see earlier posting).

BBC: Is night falling on Daylight Saving Bill?

The need for the fuel-saving orbit was the result of a technical problem early on in the mission (it was originally intended to arrive in 1999).

ECONOMIST: The current crop of Mars missions has got off to a bad start

The bill now includes a Levesonesque press regulatory body, a recognition commission intended to validate voluntary press regulation - and there's been some rather inflated comment about the chances of "saving press freedom" by reversing the Puttnam amendments.

BBC: Week ahead