This was the week that…

·         The World Health Organisation warned of the threat of a pandemic as swine flu spread across the world [more]

·         Gordon Brown was forced to make concessions in his plans to reform MPs expenses [more]

·         Labour MPs, including two former Home Secretaries, queued up to criticise Gordon Brown and his government [more]; [more]; [more]

·         The government made a u-turn on their communications database plans [more]

·         And the government also cancelled plans for Titan prisons following Lib Dem opposition to the scheme [more]

·         The Home Secretary who launched ID cards called for the scheme to be scrapped [more]

·         Gordon Brown was snubbed by the Pakistani President on a visit to the region [more]

·         The van maker LDV went into administration [more]

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         A record number of people were declared bankrupt in the first quarter of the year [more]

·         Government departments are set to miss their own carbon-cutting targets [more]

·         Labour has lost half its voters from the 2005 election [more]

·         A Labour Minister bet against Labour winning the next election [more]

·         The recession can be “constructive” – according to one Labour Minister [more]

·         Tory parliamentary candidates are more socially conservative and less green than the leadership line [more]

·         The Tories tried to recruit a BNP member to stand as a councillor, saying the parties “sing from the same hymn sheet” [more]

·         David Cameron took an all expenses paid trip to apartheid South Africa as a young party worker [more]

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Defeated the government over Gurkha rights – the first time since the 1970s that a government has been defeated on an opposition day motion [more]

·         Revealed that the government’s mortgage rescue scheme has only helped one household [more]

·         Nick Clegg wrote to other party leaders to try to find a solution to the issues of MPs pay and expenses [more]

·         Welcomed government climbdowns on databases [more] and Titan prisons [more]

·         Criticised the policy that has led to a huge increase in imprisonment of mentally ill offenders [more]

·         Demanded tougher building regulations to prevent an “environmental catastrophe” [more]

·         Uncorked the statistic that the government has a wine cellar worth nearly £800,000 [more]