Natalie Fenton’s proposal for news hubs are meant to provide better local news. Photograph: Roger Bamber/Alamy A couple of decades ago, some 200 companies owned Britain’s local press. Today, just five own 740 (or 61%) of the remaining titles. What does that mean? When Natalie Fenton... 

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... 

William Hague and former special adviser Chris Myers. Photograph: Xposurephotos.com/DMDR2 William Hague released a deeply personal statement about his struggle to start a family today and announced the resignation of a young special adviser as he moved to kill off “untrue and deeply distressing”... 

The BCC predicts unemployment will increase over the next 18 months. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty The UK economy will grow faster than first thought this year, the British Chambers of Commerce predicts today, but the threat of double-dip recession remains as government cuts bite and unemployment...