Lord Lawson resigned over Professor Walters' influence on Margaret Thatcher when she was Prime Minister

Lord Lawson resigned over Professor Walters' influence on Margaret Thatcher when she was Prime Minister.Meanwhile, Lord Archer, former Conservative Party deputy chairman, took his campaign to hammer home the implications of the Goldsmith challenge a step further yesterday, spelling out just where the damage could be wreaked. Praising former Cabinet ministers John Redwood and Norman Lamont for taking the threat of the Referendum Party seriously, he suggested its candidates could make holding the Tories' 23 most marginal seats all but impossible.The Sun article warns of the "dragon" threatening the UK - the EU - "an unelected body, answerable to no-one, which aims to devour our national identity". The newspaper says: "Britain's future role in Europe is the biggest issue this country has faced in the past 300 years."Who governs Britain - Parliament or Brussels? The Sun believes the people must be given the right to choose.". The sixth privatised rail franchise, the InterCity services out of St Pancras in London, was yesterday awarded to National Express, the bus company which has already won the right to run the Gatwick Express rail shuttle.

He is trying to create an equilibrium." Sir James added of the current Tory party in relation to Europe: "Does it matter whether you bring in the appeasers who give in bit by bit or the enthusiasts who want to commit suicide with great enthusiasm?"Professor Walters yesterday told the cross-party Commons select committee on Treasury affairs he would be standing against Mr Clarke, who had a majority of 19,766 at the last election in the Nottinghamshire seat of Rushcliffe.Mr Clarke is likely to shrug off the challenge, but with the Tories being unpopular, the intervention of an anti-European candidate could take vital votes away from the Chancellor.Professor Walters told the committee that the pound had been involved in "dirty floating" since its ejection from the exchange rate mechanism (ERM), involving intervention by the Bank of England at an undisclosed level.He clashed with Lord Lawson, the former Chancellor, after warning the Prime Minister that Lord Lawson's policy of shadowing the German mark was risking forcing the economy into recession. Sir James is today backed by the Sun, which in a prominent editorial supports his call for a full-scale referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. Meanwhile pro-European backbenchers reported that plans by Tom Spencer, chairman of the Tory MEPs, to convene Cabinet ministers and others to address a summer conference on Europe in London, had been cancelled by Brian Mawhinney, the party's chairman.Professor Alan Walters, a monetarist economist who has consistently fought against Britain's entry into a single currency, will stand for Sir James's party against Mr Clarke to underline the campaign against economic and monetary union.In an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper Sir James accused the Prime Minister of "feeble" leadership and said: "He is not leading. Baroness Thatcher's former economic adviser last night confirmed he will stand for Sir James's Referendum Party against Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor. The right's continuing divisions over Europe were exposed afresh last night as Sir James Goldsmith stepped up his attack on John Major and pro- European Tories complained that Conservative Central Office had cancelled a high profile conference on the future of the European Union. The Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine-guns are strapped across the chest, and Smith and Wesson .38 calibre revolvers are carried in a holster on the hip. outstanding in being so impartial."Nigel de Gruchy, general secretary of the NASUWT: "Withold the bonus but no sanctions ...

The stern red-brick 19th-century housing are being vigorously gentrified on Toxteth's northern fringe.A young couple walked their muzzled dog fast, almost at a trot A black teenager dashed diagonally across the road. It looks like overkill, but what does it feel like on the streets?I was in Washington DC two years ago, on the trail of Marion Barry, who is once again the city's mayor but was then in the early stages of political rehabilitation, following his jail sentence for smoking crack. The city was in uproar at the time as a result of its murder rate, the worst in the country: the then mayor, Sharon Kelly (black, like Barry), had decided to call out the National Guard to restore peace to the streets.Kelly later backed down, but one could see why the idea occurred to her: in the 48 hours I had been in town, there were five shooting incidents, in which four people were killed and three injured None of the incidents appeared to be related No one had been arrested. Tony Blair, the Labour leader, has secured the backing of the leading trade unions for his plans to submit the basics of his election manifesto to a referendum of the party's 400,000 members. At a meeting with Mr Blair and John Prescott, the party's deputy leader, the unions promised not only to support the unprecedented process - despite their initial reservations - but also to participate actively by staging debates and, in some cases, ballots of members on the manifesto proposals. Labour strategists regard the agreement at the meeting with the general secretaries of the eight biggest union affiliates as a significant turning point - and one which contrasts with the hostility of many unions to Mr Blair's campaign to replace Clause IV of the party's constitution last year.Then, only the Union of Communications Workers held a ballot of members, and the new union leaders' stance is said by Labour sources to indicate that they are anxious to be part of a process which most observers had suggested would diminish their influence over the content of the manifesto.The unions' backing came as Tory ministers stepped up their a campaign to exploit Labour "confusion" on tax, after Clare Short, the party's transport spokesman, suggested that those earning between pounds 30,000 and pounds 40,000 should be paying more - a proposal rebuffed swiftly by the leadership.Gillian Shephard, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, claimed that Labour could be contemplating higher taxes for everyone earning more than the national average wage of pounds 20,600.Brian Mawhinney, the Tory chairman, claimed that three Shadow Cabinet members - deputy leader John Prescott, Ms Short and education spokesman David Blunkett - had admitted to plans for higher taxes.Meanwhile, Mr Blair will increase Labour's overtures to businessmen today by underlining his commitment to consult with business and industry before introducing a statutory minium wage.Mr Blair will claim that his party is closer to business than at any time in its history, while the traditional Tory ties with business are loosening.. I believe very strongly the reason he did it was the total embarrassment he suffered from the publicity."I deeply regret my action with Mrs A [a patient] I was under extreme pressure. I was totally irresponsible and it embarrassed my wife, children, family, friends and relatives and the medical profession."It is something I never want anyone to go through.

I feel so guilty that what happened contributed to the death of my son."Speaking of the relationship Dr Pilsworth, who worked in the village of Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire for 27 years, said: "I find in the circumstances what actually happened was disgraceful It is the sort of behaviour that cannot be condoned.". Child agency given boost to its image The Child Support Agency made "dramatic improvements" last year, the Government claimed yesterday as it launched a new offensive in the propaganda battle to turn round the agency's disastrous image. Publishing an end-of-year report which showed that the CSA had exceeded three of its five key performance targets, Andrew Mitchell, a junior social security minister, claimed the agency was "well on its way to providing a high-quality service for all its clients".But Malcolm Wicks, Labour's spokesman on the CSA, said: "They are improving from such an abysmally low base that it is hardly a triumph of good public administration."The CSA collected or arranged pounds 302m of maintenance payments in the last financial year (against a pounds 300m target), 79 per cent of which were correct to the last penny (75 per cent), and 97 per cent of payments received from absent parents were passed on to the parents looking after children within 10 working days (90 per cent).But the agency managed to process only 48 per cent of new applications for maintenance within six months, as against its target of 60 per cent The highly-critical report will be debated by MPs tomorrow.. A young GP killed himself after his father was struck off the medical register for having an affair with a patient, it was revealed yesterday. Dr Tim Pilsworth took his own life in the surgery where his father made love to a patient during their four-month affair. The GMC heard that Dr Pilsworth Jnr's body was discovered by his father. He contacted a colleague and the pair went to the surgery to find the hanging body of Tim.The tragedy was revealed yesterday as Dr Keith Pilsworth was reinstated on the medical register after being struck off in March 1995 for serious professional misconduct.Dr Pilsworth told the disciplinary hearing: "I feel so guilty for the death of my son.

This year a consultants' report attacked as "unwise and inappropriate" a decision to expedite a pounds 70,000 grant to Irish community groups. For much of the Eighties it was dominated by the far left, bringing the nickname "Barmy Brent" from opponents.. However, poll rules mean the contest cannot be held until the end of May at the earliest.The council holds its annual meeting on 15 May, at which other parties will have the opportunity to elect a Labour or Lib Dem mayor, thus securing the casting vote for themselves.Brent has a reputation for controversy. Mr Kemp's Preston seat in Wembley has been traditionally safe for Conservatives and they are likely to hold it in the by-election. Mr Kemp's death has left them with 32 out of 66 seats, with Labour on 28 and Liberal Democrats on five. Road rage is quite new and we have had no similar incidents in the area but this is particularly shocking when you consider that it was unprovoked.". The Conservative Party last night lost Brent council in north- west London, one of only five authorities they control in the capital - and without a single elector's vote being cast.