A man enjoys his favourite tipple of dandelion and burdock at Fitzpatrick’s Temperance Bar in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images I stopped drinking almost 20 years ago, and I sometimes think that my real life began on that day in 1991. Getting sober was one of the best things I ever did, and, strangely, [...]

The exercise yard at London’s Pentonville prison could be humming with prisoners powering the national grid on their bikes if one voter has his way. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian Treadmills in prisons linked to the National Grid. Bounty hunters to track down benefit cheats. A cull of the Queen’s swans. New ideas for [...]

David Cameron indicated that he may have decided on a more populist approach to public health when he showed support for a ban in pubs and shops in Greater Manchester on the selling of cheap drink last week. Photograph: Don McPhee for the Guardian Another week, another event that makes government public health policy ever [...]

Which? survey found bank charging methods are deceptively complex Low credit interest, high overdraft charges and big fees on spending abroad means banking in the UK is far from free, according to a survey by consumer magazine Which? Although many customers believe they are benefiting from free banking, research by Which? into the real cost [...]