Thursday marked the last day of term before MPs left Parliament for a two-week recess.

As is now tradition, Governments tend to rush out unpopular decisions quietly in written and oral statements from ministers with the hope a blitz of announcements and people winding down for Christmas will help provide cover.

This year was notable for two pieces of embarrassing news for the Government being even more of a distraction: Damian Green being forced to resign over sex harassment and pornography allegations, and Tory Minister Mark Garnier being cleared of breaching the ministerial code after asking his secretary to buy sex toys.

Here are five bits of important news stories that may have been lost in the mix: