Bricklayers working in Hatfield. The construction industry took a big hit from the recession and expects the outlook to get tougher. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian It was a bright, sunny day when 19 senior executives, each representing one of the government’s biggest suppliers, trooped into Admiralty House off Whitehall to meet the Cabinet [...]

The Probo Koala, the Trafigura ship linked to an environmental disaster off the coast of West Africa. Photograph: Raigo Pajula/AFP/Getty Images Students and academics at Oxford are angry that their university has accepted more than £3m from a foundation established by a founder of the controversial oil trading company Trafigura. Graham Sharp was one of [...]

The Probo Koala, the Trafigura ship linked to an environmental disaster off the coast of West Africa. Photograph: Raigo Pajula/AFP/Getty Images Students and academics at Oxford are angry that their university has accepted more than £3m from a foundation established by a founder of the controversial oil trading company Trafigura. Graham Sharp was one of [...]