Big Society

Flares, placards, whistles and a few celebrities – the streets of London are filled with protesters calling for an end to the government’s austerity cuts.

Michael Gove’s call for schools to promote “British values” has caused something of a stir on Twitter and Facebook. So what’s the verdict? Here is our slightly unscientific attempt to find out.

Food banks are “consistently” seeing an increase in demand, a Defra-commissioned report concludes – but what are they and are benefits cuts to blame for their proliferation?

Twenty-seven bishops condemn the government’s “punitive” welfare reforms, which they say have forced people into food and fuel poverty.

The traditional family model used to be thought of as the building block of society. But now a report finds those families make up a third of all those with children who live in poverty.

The British Red Cross is teaming up with a food bank charity to help feed thousands of vulnerable people across the UK who are struggling to cope in the harsh economic climate.

The numbers of people relying on food banks to survive has exploded in the UK in what is being described as a “national disgrace”, as Cordelia Lynch reports.

Are you the elite, the precariat or the established middle class? A new survey feeds into our uniquely British obsession by suggesting there are seven classes, rather than the traditional three.

The Queen should no longer be expected to award honours to civil servants and business people for simply “doing the day job”, according to a parliamentary committee.

The riots that spread across England in 2011 lasted a few days but some communities suffered lasting damage. However, the resulting clean-up fostered a community spirit that is still present now.

A charity described as a new ‘national trust for the waterways’ is launched to help clean up 2,000 miles of historic canals and rivers across England and Wales.

The Archbishop of Canterbury attacks the Big Society concept as “aspirational waffle” designed to conceal a “deeply damaging withdrawal of the state from its responsibilities” to the vulnerable.

New immigration proposals, setting minimum earnings of nearly £20,000 for those wanting to bring a relative to the UK, would prevent up to 30,000 parents and children from joining their families here.

Theresa May wants to put Britain’s economy and safety ahead of family rights in the latest government threat to immigrants, UK residents and human rights guaranteed by law.

TalkTalk will ask its 4.2m internet customers to decide whether they want to view pornography sites or not, putting pressure on other internet service providers to follow suit.