Britain would enjoy a significant economic boost if it left the European Union, former finance minister Nigel Lawson said in an article Tuesday which will fuel the debate about a referendum on British membership. Writing in the Times, Nigel Lawson insisted that "the case for exit" was now clear and urged Britain to sever its 40-year association with Brussels. "In my judgement the economic gains would substantially outweigh the costs," wrote Lawson, who was Margaret Thatcher's longest serving Chancellor of the Exchequer.

British historian Niall Ferguson apologized Saturday for remarks suggesting that economist John Maynard Keynes didn't care about future generations because he was gay and childless. The academic and author, a professor at Harvard University, described as "stupid" the comments at a conference in California last Thursday, made in an "off-the-cuff" answer following a presentation. He said he was asked about Keynes' famous observation that "In the long run we are all dead." A blogger present posted a transcript on the remarks, while other attendees also voiced surprise.

The British government is to delay plans for a new state-backed press watchdog after newspapers rejected the proposal and published their own version, Prime Minister David Cameron's office said on Friday. Cameron's Downing Street office said it was forced to postpone its bid for a beefed-up new regulator, which was drawn up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid, to allow more time to consider the newspapers' alternative charter.

The British government is to delay plans for a new state-backed press watchdog after newspapers rejected the proposal and published their own version, Prime Minister David Cameron's office said on Friday. Downing Street said it was forced to postpone its bid for a beefed-up new regulator, which was drawn up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid, to allow more time to consider the newspapers' alternative charter.