Cryptic crossword

Monday's puzzle...

ACROSS

1 Brief raids, eg, organised by emergency services (4,8)

8 Levy old tax on one operating with acclaim (7)

9 Scoops up little birds in buckets (7)

11 Public worship has to sound correct (4)

12 Having entered difficult age, may go downhill (10)

14 Gather round a Liberal broadcaster (6)

15 Decry one who may live on next to nothing (8)

17 Odds on crooks will go after sequins (8)

19 Set limits to rash, causing shooting pain (6)

22 To compose great saga in verse adds insult to injury (10)

23 Good service by former star (4)

25 Audition on line; that's right, in good time (7)

26 Frantic to get in, waiting for the bomb to go off (7)

27 Pitch into fights where the action is (12)

DOWN

1 Force back to become more spread out (7)

2 Control part of the empire, in fact (4)

3 Make fun of stake in bridge (6)

4 More involved with popular runner getting through (2,6)

5 Recognise value in advance (10)

6 Appropriate choice for rich, in good taste (7)

7 Press for the statue to be rearranged (6,6)

10 Prospect of one moving around, at some stage (5-7)

13 Did pirate play endlessly with soldier and timeless painter? (10)

16 Not very many correspond, when one's in the minority (3,5)

18 Designed new regalia for a foreign country (7)

20 In confusion over new seats of power (7)

21 Stars of the stage, ministers cultivate (6)

24 And the others make protracted comeback (2,2)