All your Christmas gifts for under £100 - impossible? Not if you follow our essential guide

gifts

Why Baby P never stood a chance - by the social worker blamed for Victoria Climbie's death

Victoria Climbie

Few people could have been more distressed at the horrific death of Baby P, or consumed with anger towards the chaotic child protection system, than former Haringey social worker Lisa Arthurworrey.

Binge eating? Don't pop a pill, face your demons - it's the only chance for long-term weight loss

Diet pills are not the answer

In our society, bingeing is growing at an exponential rate. Diet pills are not the answer. If you are using food as some kind of drug, the only way to help yourself is to get to the bottom of why you're addicted.

REAL ISSUES
 

ISABEL WOLFF: RIP Woolies - a lament for the store we grew up with. Shed one tear, get one free!

David Cameron at Woolworths

It's so desperately sad that - barring some last-minute miracle - Woolworths is to disappear from our High Streets forever, weeps one Woolies-worshipper.

The junk food gene: DNA flaw means two-thirds of us can't stop eating

Young woman in her twenties eating fast food in motorcar..

Slimmer souls have always maintained that a sweet tooth can be banished with a big helping of will-power.

JILL PARKIN: Even my daughter's lunchtime walnut cake was banned - this allergy hysteria is just ... Nuts!

walnut

When the school attended by Jill Parkin's daughter banned nuts, it even extended to walnut cake in her lunch box. And stopped her sending her home-made cakes to the Christmas fair.

Wedding blues: Help! I've got Post-Nuptial Depression

Help! I've got Post-Nuptial Depression

Stephanie Savill spent much of her honeymoon in tears. Her wedding in West Sussex had been a fabulous affair. Within a month, her marriage was under huge strain and she was questioning everything in her life.

The killers who stole our Christmas: Mothers of knife crime victims tell their heartbreaking stories

mum

Five mothers of knife crime victims tell their heartbreaking stories and how they are planning on getting through the first Christmas without their boys

The tragic story of how a white girl being born black tore a family apart

Sandra Laing

Sandra Laing had been doing her sums quietly when a boy was sent to fetch her from her classroom. In the principal's office, two khaki-uniformed officers were waiting.

FASHION & BEAUTY
 

Celebrity Style Watch... Peaches Geldof & Jen Brill

We show you how to recreate Peaches Geldof and Jen Brill's style for a fraction of the cost. Plus, click and buy their style at the Fashion Store

Rock chicks: Peaches Geldof and Jen Brill

MUST READ
 

Beauty Confidential: Celebrity scents for Christmas

spraying perfume

More perfume will be sold in the next two weeks than at any other time of the year, and this Christmas there are more celebrity scents than ever. But are they any good?

From peggings to leggings (and even treggings)which trendy trouser suits you?

Penny Lancaster: Wears 'peggings'

Here, LIZ JONES presents a modern dictionary of trousers - and suggests at what age you should stop wearing them.

Strictly no dancing please, chaps (you look more like John Sergeant than John Travolta)

John Sergeant

There are certain moments that become defining in a relationship: the first kiss, meeting his family, the first holiday together — and the very first time that you see him dance.

Confusion as watchdog U-turns and says you CAN eat nuts during pregnancy

peanuts

In the past women have been advised to avoid eating peanuts during pregnancy. But the Food Safety Agency says it is no longer backing the advice because evidence does not support it.

What happened when JACI STEPHEN went to live with the stars in Hollywood

Jaci Stephen

The plane was simple - go to LA, do a scriptwriting course, write a hit movie and sell it for at least $2million - but alas, life in Tinsel Town is not so easy.

Britain's most UNLIKELY male sex symbols

ANDREW MARR

As Helen Mirren admits to having a crush on BBC big ears Andrew Marr, MAUREEN RICE, the editor of Psychologies magazine, lists her most unlikely sex symbols ...

The £3.20 'invisible' knickers that are flying off the shelves and make the perfect partner to a slinky party frock

Debenhams £4 Invisible Knickers that hide VPL

Debenhams has reported a huge surge in £3.20 Invisible Knickers. They are outselling every other style of lingerie in the chain's stores by three to one.

Ho ho hopeless: How one hapless father went to Santa School - and nearly got the sack

Santa in specs: Vince strikes a less than convincing pose

I have been invited along to a new Santa School for Dads being run by a London department store. The idea of the class is to teach newish dads such as me how to be a convincing Father Christmas.

How living with the mother-in-law can damage a woman's health

Health hazard: Scientists say living with the mother-in-law can be bad for a women's health

It probably makes your blood boil just to think about it. But it turns out that living with the mother-in-law really can be bad for a woman's health.

ULRIKA JONSSON: Oh, the sheer nightmare of nativity plays

Nativity

Ho, ho, ho - it's that time of year again. Yes, the School Nativity season is upon us. As a mother of four little angels myself, I know I should be bursting with festive joy.

FOOD, RECIPES & COOKING