The CWU (Communication Workers Union) is taking legal advice about going to the high court to stop Royal Mail hiring 30,000 agency staff to cope with the backlog caused by strikes and Christmas. Talks are ongoing to prevent a second round of strikes.

The Jews' Free School (JFS) in London is going to the newly opened Supreme Court to defend its admissions policy, after the Court of Appeal ruled that it broke the Race Relations Act. JFS refused admission to a boy because his mother - a convert - was not officially recognised as a Jew by the Chief Rabbi's office.

The population of Britain will rise from 61 million to 71.6 million by 2033 if the current growth trends continue, according to the Office for National Statistics. Just over two-thirds of the increase is likely to be related directly or indirectly to migration to the UK.

The Territorial Army's budget will remain the same after Gordon Brown abandoned plans to cut it by £17.5m. On 26 October, the government had backtracked on plans to halt all training for six months except for those being sent to Afghanistan, and scaled back cuts from £20m.

To combat "domestic extremism", a term that has no legal basis, police are secretly gathering the personal details of thousands of activists who attend political meetings or protests, even if they have not committed a crime. Three police units tasked with the job are storing data on a network of hidden nationwide intelligence databases. The government's privacy watchdog will inspect the policy's legality.

The Tory MP Eleanor Laing has survived a vote of no-confidence triggered by criticism of her expenses claims. The shadow justice minister and MP for Epping Forest won the overwhelming support of her local Conservative association.

Offences of modern slavery will be voted on in the House of Lords. Civil liberties groups and both main opposition parties back the creation of two new offences, which would criminalise forced labour and holding someone in servitude. Ministers have insisted the current laws on slavery give victims enough protection.

Children as young as seven will be offered careers guidance under a government scheme in England. The programme aims to raise the aspirations of children from deprived backgrounds and challenge negative stereotyping that leads them to believe certain careers are out of reach.

Tory party heavyweights have criticised David Cameron's plan to impose all-female shortlists in vacant seats. Norman Tebbit called it "a daft idea". Ann Widdecombe accused the Conservative leader of patronising women; she said that they should be elected on merit alone.

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