From an MP being taken hostage to ritual humiliation.

Estate agent predicts some billionaire clients will sell property if no longer able to keep identity secret via offshore firms

David Cameron’s pledge to build a property-owning democracy is called into serious question by a landmark survey revealing that almost four in 10 of those who do not own a home believe they will never be able to do so. According to an exclusive poll for the Observer on attitudes to British housing, 69% of people think the country is “in the throes of a housing crisis”. A staggering 71% of aspiring property owners doubt their ability to buy a home without...

The first-ever all-out doctors' strike is a "bleak day", ministers say, but hospitals seem to be coping well during Tuesday's stoppage in England.

An amazing discovery in Wiltshire is throwing a whole new light on the way we think henges might have been used in Neolithic Britain.

The longest-reigning monarch in British history turns 90 on Thursday, but Queen Elizabeth II is not planning a major, fireworks-filled celebration to mark the happy occasion. Just a gentle stroll outside the grounds of Windsor Castle, the lighting of a beacon, and a night at home with family are all that are on the royal plate. No, she'll save the pomp and ceremony for her next birthday. The monarch is such an eminent figure in British life that she gets two birthdays each year...

Ordnance Survey celebrates 80 years of the trig pillars that helped map Great Britain.

Its founders have spent weekends re-enacting American frontier life for over 30 years.

The smallest medieval Arabic chess piece to be discovered in the country has been unearthed in an archaeological dig at Wallingford Museum.

David Cameron’s father ran an offshore fund that avoided ever having to pay tax in Britain by hiring a small army of Bahamas residents – including a part-time bishop – to sign its paperwork. Ian Cameron was a director of Blairmore Holdings Inc, an investment fund run from the Bahamas but named after the family’s ancestral home in Aberdeenshire, which managed tens of millions of pounds on behalf of wealthy families.

A London council’s education authority destroyed evidence of children being educated in illegal faith schools at the request of religious institutions, The Independent can reveal. The Department for Education has been aware of the problem since 2010 but does not appear to have taken any steps to act against the destruction of these records.

The Land War in Ireland left many poor tenant farmers facing eviction from their homes. But not without a fight.

Some historians consider England’s Scilly conflict to be the longest war in known history, dragging on for a staggering 335 years.

Storm Katie batters large parts of England, leaving flights cancelled, property damaged and thousands of people without power.

The great conservative journalist Peregrine Worsthorne reflects on a long life at the heart of the establishment. By Jason Cowley.

Radar scan of Bard’s grave for documentary shows his head appears to be missing – but it puts other myths to bed.

Lawyers will be advised to prosecute "trolls" who use fake online profiles to harass others, under guidelines being proposed in England and Wales. The Crown Prosecution Service says adults should be charged if, for example, they make a profile in the name of a victim with fake information which could damage their reputation. The guidelines also include advice on new crimes such as revenge pornography. The CPS guidelines advise prosecutors on how to interpret existing laws.

At its small factory in England, the company builds more than 1300 cars each year – all by hand. We got behind-the-scenes access to film the mesmerising process, from frame to finish.

After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England for her complicity in a plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I.

A businessman is raking in thousands of pounds selling jars of ‘fresh air’ to people in China for £80 each. Leo De Watts, 27, sells air collected in the British countryside and ships it over to polluted cities Shanghai and Beijing, where the wealthy elite pay a hefty sum for a few seconds of inhalation. The Aethaer products include air from Somerset, Wales and Dorset, with each area said to create air with different qualities.