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The BBC, Britain's state media giant, in under unprecedented attack for its part in events leading the death of David Kelly. It has been blamed by MP Robert Jackson for the apparent suicide of the weapons expert.

The BBC justified its broadcasting of uncorroborated allegations about the government "sexing up" a dossier on Iraqi weapons on the grounds that its source was from within the intelligence services and sufficiently reliable to be trusted. This justification has been totally undercut by the revelation that the source was Dr. Kelly, who did not work for the intelligence services and who denied the accuracy of the BBC?s report.

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Jeffrey Archer will again take his seat in parliament on his release from prison, according to press reports. Archer is a legislator-for-life and so not subject to election. He also holds the feudal title of "Lord" and will expect to be addressed as "My Lord" by honest citizens.

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A report by the Labour Party affiliated Fabian Society has recommended that Britain keep a hereditary head of state. It does say that the monarch should no longer head the state church, however. And it calls for the hereditary ruler to lose the mainly formal powers to dissolve parliament, select the prime minister and approve acts of parliament. The exclusive right of Protestants to hold the nation's chief public office should also be abolished, according to the society.

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Ten per cent or more of the population should be compelled to use the Internet for their tax returns and when using government services, according to a report for the Work Foundation (formally the Industrial Society). The authors make the remarkable claim that the state is "subsidising" taxpayers who are have Internet access and are computer literate if they prefer to make paper tax returns. "Marketing techniques" could be used to identify these people, they suggest, so that they might be compelled to do as the government wished.

The Chief Executive of the Work Foundation is Will Hutton, a writer and former Guardian journalist. It says that its mission is to improve working life.

A government spokesperson said that it was still committed to allowing citizens to choose.

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The annual report of the BBC has been compared to that of disgraced US energy company Enron by MP Chris Bryant. He said that it was "just about the most complacent report I have ever seen." Mr Bryant later apologised for his remarks following protests from the state broadcaster.

The tax funded media giant reported that it had suffered a loss of £299m because of investment in digital channels, expanded news coverage and Internet services. It's spending on programmes of the licence fee that all British TV owners are obliged to pay directly to it was up £346m on the previous year. At the end of the year it had turned a cash balance sheet surplus of £285m into a deficit of £74m.

BBC director-general Gregory Dyke said that the corporation's governors did not accept the legitimacy of what he described as widespread allegatons of political partiality.

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Legislators in the House of Lords have rejected government proposals to limit the right to trial by jury, in another demonstration of the bizarre nature of Britain's democracy. The proposals contained in the criminal justice bill had been agreed by a majority of the democratic legislators in the House of Commons, who are rarely willing to stand up to their party leaders on behalf of the people.

Conservative party shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin described the vote as a blow "in defence of individual liberty." His party's legislators in the House of Lords have a long history of resisting democratic reform of the legislature.

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The government intends to keep the power to veto the appointment of judges when a new judicial appointments commission is formed to take over this function from the abolished feudal office of Lord Chancellor. This setback to the separation of executive and judiciary was announced on Monday by constitutional affairs secretary and legislator-for-life Falconer as he introduced a consultation paper on the judicial reform plans announced last month.

The independent commission that was expected to appoint new judges will merely make recommendations to the constitutional affairs minister. This, Mr. Falconer said, would maintain "parliamentary accountability." The commission would put forward just one name which the minister would accept or reject. The appointments commission would be composed of five judges, five other lawyers and five individuals from outside the legal system.

Mr. Falconer also announced his intention that the new supreme court should initially consist of the twelve existing law lords. They would lose the right to sit as legislators. New judges would not be made legislators-for-life, nor hold the feudal rank of "Lord."

A separate consultation paper released at the same time proposes the abolition of Queen's Counsel, the senior grade of barrister. These lawyers are currently appointed by the government and are able to charge higher fees because of this state approval. There are 1,145 QCs.

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The BBC is expected to report that last year it took £2.6bn in its tax on British TV viewers, according to a report in the Financial Times. This is up from £2.53bn in the previous year.

In the last three years, according to the newspaper, the free spending corporation's outlay on its TV channels, radio stations and web sites has increased by £616m or 35 per cent.

British citizens are not allowed to watch other free to air, satellite or cable TV channels without permission from the BBC.

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Chief Justice Woolf, Britain's most senior judge, has criticised the way in which the feudal office of Lord Chancellor was abolished recently. He told a gathering of judges that this raised "questions as to whether our constitution provides the protection it should for our constitutional institutions."

The Chief Justice is also a legislator-for-life and considers himself to be what is known as a "Lord." He is believed not to have made any criticism of the absence from Britain's unwritten constitution of protection for the people from these abuses of democracy.

The Chief Justice did welcome the government's announcement of its intention to propose legislation that would establish a supreme court outside the legislature.

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A Canadian court judge has rejected a claim that the Canadian Charter of Rights invalidates the British Act of Settlement's requirement that restricts succession to the Throne to Protestants.

A Ontario Superior Court judge suggested that ruling in favour of the claim made by Tony O'Donohue, a Catholic of Irish descent, might lead to civil wars over who should be head of state or result in different heads of state for Britain and Canada. At present the British Windsor family has sole right to determine who should be head of state for both countries.

The Act of Settlement of 1701 says that "All and every person ...
[who] shall hold communion with the see or Church of Rome, or
should profess the popish religion, or marry a papist, should be
excluded, and are by that Act made for ever incapable to inherit,
possess or enjoy the Crown and government of this realm."

Mr. O'Donohue said the British law was offensive and incompatible with
Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He is to appeal the ruling.

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