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Up and down the nation, parents of children aged around 7 and 11 will be doing battle with the horror that is SPaG tests – or, to the uninitiated, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar. Large numbers of children are arriving in school so much further back in their development than they were 20 years ago – many have speech problems, many aren’t toilet-trained, many have never held a pencil or pen or been read a story before they arrive in school....

Two days on from the Panama Papers leak, the Independent has revealed that HMRC - the government body responsible for collecting taxes - actually pays rent on its head office to a company based in a tax haven! Eleven million documents were leaked from law firm Mossack Fonseca on Monday highlight the extent to which UK residents and its institutions are taking advantage of tax havens such as Panama. Over half of the companies listed in the document cache are registered in...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor This really didn't go very well; supremely wealthy Tory candidate for Mayor looked pretty out of touch with the city he wants to run during a TV interview. The BBC's Norman Smith asked Goldsmith which team play at Loftus Road, he had no idea (it's QPR). Then he was asked the next type station going east on Central Line from Tottenham Court Road, he had no idea (it's Holborn). He was finally asked where the...

Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson is set to resign after revelations of his tax affairs were revealed in the Panama Papers leak. The documents from Mossack Fonseca showed that the disgraced PM hid  millions of dollars of investments in his country’s banks in an offshore company under his wife's name. Although it isn't an illegal act, thousands of protesters turned up last night calling for his head, the vast majority of whom still have a sour taste in their mouths following the...

By Steve Taggart A dog who who protected thousands of allied troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has been awarded the animal equivalent of the VC, the PDSA Dickin Medal, today (Tuesday 5th April) The twelve-year-old German Shepherd, who lost a leg while on duty, successfully completed over 400 separate missions during six years of active service. The famous medal was instituted by PDSA’s founder, Maria Dickin, CBE, in 1943. It is the highest award any animal in the world can...

A Reddit user has posted an inspired analogy of the Panama Papers, likening the leak to a kid's piggy bank. DanGliesack dumbed-down the data leak to shed light on its importance. Read it in full below: When you get a quarter you put it in the piggy bank. The piggy bank is on a shelf in your closet. Your mom knows this and she checks on it every once in a while, so she knows when you put more money...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The huge leak from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca may have dragged in the PMs own late father. 11.5 million documents have been leaked, document work stretching back nearly 40 years and a firm Ian Cameron was director of, has cropped up in the paperwork. It is alleged that Cameron’s dad was embroiled in recruiting what has been dubbed a small army of Bahamas residents, to sign paperwork on behalf of an offshore fund, which...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The Labour leader has been invited to speak at the world famous Glastonbury festival. He has been asked to participate at Worthy Farm by veteran left-winger and musician, Billy Bragg. The festival is run by landowner Michael Eavis and his daughter, Michael stood as a Labour candidate in the 1997 General Election, and is a keen supporter of left wing causes. Corbyn will join other guest speakers on Bragg’s Left Field stage. It is expected...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor There appears to be a teaching crisis are a Teachers’ union said there was a crisis in recruitment. A survey has revealed that four out of five teachers have thought about leaving the profession entirely. The poll of nearly 900 members of the teaching profession have said they have seriously considered leaving. The worry research was by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers who found 83 per cent were thinking about quitting while at the...