Conservative donor Andrew Cook has admitted he wanted to invest in Sheffield Forgemasters. Photograph: John Giles/PA The first sleaze row of the new government deepened today when a millionaire Tory donor, who successfully lobbied for the cancellation of a government loan to a promising engineering... 

YOUR FIRST STEPS To start a profitable internet business you need to take these exact steps. This is what you need to understand before starting your best home internet business. For your best home internet business to succeed in the world of internet it still requires something from you. There is tremendous potential. What... 

Peerage kicks all through the night … Feargal Sharkey at the Ivor Novellos in 2008. Photograph: David Fisher/Rex Features Forget the unions, the bankers and big pharmaceuticals – the music industry may soon have an advocate in the House of Lords. Feargal Sharkey, head of the UK Music... 

Oil and water: westing is continuing on BP’s new well cap in the Gulf of Mexico. Photograph: BP/Reuters A standoff between BP and the US government over the handling of the stricken Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico continued with a sharp exchange of words over the best way to keep... 

David Cameron prepares for a fight with France and Germany over Turkey’s admission to the EU. Photograph: Pool/REUTERS The European Union has perfected the art in recent years of offending Turkey. I remember a miserable evening in Luxembourg in 2005, during the British presidency of the...