Former prime minister Tony Blair has scraped claims that he used his power to suppress legal advice which could have prevented the Cabinet from okaying the Iraq War. The ex-PM’s spin doctor Alastair Campbell put down in his diaries in March 2003 that Blair barred Attorney General Lord Goldsmith from explaining fully to the ministers the realities of the Iraq War. Adversaries of the Iraq War recently accessed the spin…

As England’s penalty woes continue to haunt them in big tournaments, boss Roy Hodgson quips that the country has got an “obsession with penalties”, which he believes will mount after their quarter-final exit from Euro 2012. The England manager refused to sound overly pessimistic about his side’s 4-2 defeat on penalties at the Kiev Olympic Stadium, saying confidently that the current squad, with a pinch of hard work and unity,…

Passengers flying into Newcastle Airport were allowed through the airport without security or passport checks though immigration control because of a budget airline blunder. A group of passengers flying from Prague, in the Czech Republic, were allowed into the North East without passing though border controls, before the error was noticed. Jet2, which operated the flight on May 27 from the Czech Republic, has been investigating the case. An investigation into the case was launched after an airline worker…

Floods are wreaking havoc in the country, with the latest casualty being the Isle of Wight Festival in Newport which was badly hit by rains yesterday, creating a traffic deadlock and causing great inconvenience to the people visiting Seaclose Park. The rock enthusiasts had no other choice but to sleep inside their vehicles because of heavy traffic on the street and police had to escort some of them to Newport…

Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, has remarked that only pensioners are opposed to gay marriage, and if explained properly, even they would change their mind. The Conservative MP supported same-sex marriage and said that the majority of every age group except other than the over-65s was in favour. Expressing his views regarding the trending polls, he said, “If you explain to the over-65s that it’s civil marriage – not…

LeRoy Neiman, noted artist of sports events as well as a contributor to Playboy magazine, died at a Manhattan hospital, at the age of 91. Neiman’s publicist, Gail Parenteau, confirmed his death. The artist left behind his 55-year-old wife. Playboy boss Hugh Hefner, paid his tribute to the artist who was his “long time friend” on Twitter. A chance encounter in 1953 brought Hefner and Neiman together and the two…

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has strongly spoken in favour of the goal-line technology after Tuesday’s England v Ukraine match at the Euros that saw a genuine Ukranian goal not allowed by the referee. “After last night’s match #GLT is no longer an alternative but a necessity”, Blatter tweeted, expressing hope that he would be able to get the point across to the game’s rule-makers, the International Football Association Board. The…

The National Theatre has withdrawn its Christmas production of The Count of Monte Cristo, scheduled to run between November and January, as the writer Richard Bean divulged, the script “hadn’t got the right balance for the stage” yet. Though tickets for November to January shows have already been sold out, the London theatre claimed on its website that they had “put back” the show and would announce a replacement soon….

As he celebrates his 30th birthday today, Prince William is set to inherit an estimated £10 million from his mother’s estate today, which means he can now take control of half of a trust fund believed to be worth more than £20 million. Princess Diana bequeathed the trust to the Duke of Cambridge and his brother, Prince Harry, who were 15 and 12 at the time of her death in…