LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron is under pressure to reassert his authority over a Conservative Party reeling after a week which saw the resignation of a senior minister and claims of incompetence and elitism at the heart of his government.

After one of the most bruising weeks for the centre-right party since it took power in a coalition in 2010, the Conservatives have slipped further behind their Labour rivals, two polls showed on Sunday. The next election is due in 2015.

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron is under pressure to reassert his authority over a Conservative Party reeling after a week which saw the resignation of a senior minister and claims of incompetence and elitism at the heart of his government.

After one of the most bruising weeks for the center-right party since it took power in a coalition in 2010, the Conservatives have slipped further behind their Labour rivals, two polls showed on Sunday. The next election is due in 2015.

LONDON (Reuters) – Thousands of anti-austerity protesters will march in London on Saturday to protest against public spending cuts enacted by a government fighting off accusations that it is run by an upper-class elite that ignores the plight of recession-hit voters.

The march comes at a time when Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative-led coalition is reeling from the resignation on Friday of a senior minister accused of calling police “plebs”, a class-laden insult for working people.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s public finances deteriorated much less than feared during the first six months of the current tax year, giving finance minister George Osborne some hope of meeting his budget goal even as the economy remains weak.

The key measure of public sector net borrowing used in official forecasts was 2.6 billion pounds higher than a year earlier for the April-September period, compared to an overshoot of 10.6 billion pounds previously estimated for April-August, the Office for National Statistics said.

LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Britain’s public finances
deteriorated much less than feared during the first six months
of the current tax year, giving finance minister George Osborne
some hope of meeting his budget goal even as the economy remains
weak.

The key measure of public sector net borrowing used in
official forecasts was 2.6 billion pounds ($4.19 billion) higher
than a year earlier for the April-September period, compared to
an overshoot of 10.6 billion pounds previously estimated for
April-August, the Office for National Statistics said.

LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) – British retail sales rose in
September as Britons bought the new winter clothing collections
and school uniforms, data showed, boosting chances that
consumers may keep the recovery on track.

Sales volumes including automotive fuel rose 0.6 percent
last month, more than making up for a 0.1 percent dip in August,
the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday. Economists
had forecast an increase of 0.4 percent on the month.

LONDON (Reuters) – Inflation fell to its lowest in almost three years in September, although the relief for consumers and policymakers may be temporary as energy bills are set to climb.

The fall may give the Bank of England leeway to add to its programme of asset buying when the current 50 billion pound round is completed next month.

LONDON, Oct 16 (Reuters) – British inflation fell to its
lowest in almost three years in September, although the relief
for consumers and policymakers may be temporary as energy bills
are set to climb.

The fall may give the Bank of England leeway to add to its
programme of asset buying when the current 50 billion pound ($80
billion) round is completed next month.

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron has ditched EU policing rules and allowed a close ally to float the idea of Britain quitting the bloc altogether, taking on Brussels in a gamble that has proved the undoing of predecessors.

The salvoes against Europe could prove popular with voters but dangerous for Cameron – exposing discord both within his historically fractious Conservative Party and between it and its junior coalition partners, the pro-Europe Liberal Democrats.

LONDON (Reuters) – The government has torn up a deal awarding one of its biggest rail franchises to a private operator, in a humiliating U-turn that raises doubts about the government’s handling of the privatised railways.

Ministers froze three more rail franchise competitions on Wednesday after the Department for Transport (DfT) said that “completely unacceptable” flaws had been uncovered in its handling of bids to run the West Coast Main Line, a jewel in the crown of the rail network linking London and Scotland.