M&S Extends Clothing Sale Amid Poor Trading

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is to extend heavy discounting on clothing into a second day on Sunday as it attempts to drive sales during the most crucial period of its trading year.

Sky News has learnt that the high street giant will run another sale offering 30% off all clothing lines just three days before Christmas amid growing expectations of one of the toughest festive periods for retailers in years.

While food sales are said to have been satisfactory, M&S is understood to have been disappointed by the response to Saturday's clothing sale, prompting executives to decide during an evening conference call to repeat the event on Sunday.

The company is far from alone on offering heavy discounts on clothing, with 50% off usual prices at Banana Republic, French Connection and Reisss, and up to 60% savings on some lines at Gap.

M&S is, though, the most closely-watched of any retailer on UK high streets because of its scale.

It has tended to shun such significant pre-Christmas discounts under the leadership of Marc Bolland, its chief executive, although it occasionally ran them under Sir Stuart Rose, his predecessor.

Mr Bolland has been attempting to improve M&S's clothing sales by introducing new management and a focus on greater quality, but faces an anxious wait to see whether that translates into adequate trading.

Standard Life Investments, one of the retailer's biggest shareholders, said in January that disappointing Christmas trading last year meant that Mr Bolland was on borrowed time, although many investors are keen to give his strategy more time to take effect.

Some analysts are forecasting a fall in sales during the important third-quarter period, although the like-for-like measurement that will be provided by retailers in January does not indicate the profitability of their sales.

M&S declined to comment on Saturday.

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Christmas Debts 'Won't Be Cleared Until June'

The average family is going to take on debts this Christmas that will take until June to pay off, it has been claimed.

The Trades Union Congress has carried out research that shows that the typical family will add £685 to its borrowing by the time the festive season is over.

That will take a family on an average income 24 weeks to pay off, the labour organisation claims.

Last Christmas, one in six families borrowed money to pay for food, drinks and presents, with households borrowing an average of £654 per adult (Men £1,000, women £547).

Using average weekly earnings and savings data the TUC estimated that it took average-income earners 20 weeks to pay off this debt.

This year, consumer debt has increased by 4.9 per cent. The TUC's calculations estimate that it will take four more weeks for an average-income earner to pay back the extra debt burden they will take on.

If a minimum wage worker were to borrow the same sum it would take them an entire year working full-time to pay it off.

The TUC says the findings underline how ordinary people are not benefiting from the recovery and are instead facing a bigger struggle to pay off their debts.

The study has emerged on the day when the Bank of England has warned of the scale of the debt burden weighing on British families.

According to the TUC, British workers are currently suffering the longest real-wage squeeze since the 1870s, with inflation rising faster than wages for the last 42 months.

It says the government needs to make fairer pay rewards a priority.

Nicola Smith, head of economic and social affairs at the TUC, told Sky News: "It's to do with the fact that is an expensive time of the year for everybody, and with wages hardly having kept up with prices for the last four years, with family incomes under historic pressure, just meeting the basic costs of Christmas is going to mean a lot more people having to rely on credit."

She said the problem was that most growth in the economy was being provided by consumption and because pay was not keeping up with prices, the extra money people had to spend on buying goods was coming from borrowing.

"People are having to borrow to make up the extra spending that is driving growth in the economy," she said. "It's really worrying that that does not provide us with a sustainable basis for a recovery going forward."

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Christmas Shoppers To Spend £12bn In Four Days

By Emma Birchley, Sky News Reporter

Shoppers are expected to spend £12bn in just four days as they make the most of slashed prices and promotions, according to retail forecasters.

The deals are being offered as a fierce battle for sales rages both on the high street and online.

Alan Dadswell relies on Christmas to keep his shop Toys 'N' Tuck in Southend-on-Sea going and he says discounts are crucial.

He said: "To get people to spend the money they have got to feel they are getting a bargain and we have got to give them a bargain. We have to hunt with our suppliers to do good deals to get people in to the store."

A sluggish autumn has put added pressure on retailers.

But with 74% of shops offering deals, 13 million people are expected to shop on the high street on the last Saturday before Christmas.

It will help that many people finished work for Christmas on Friday.

Offering discounts at Toys 'N' Tuck in Southend-on-Sea is crucial

But Diane Wehrle, from the shop footfall monitors Springboard, says shoppers are getting increasingly canny.

She said: "Tactics definitely come into it. Shoppers are becoming much more savvy than they used to be. They understand that retailers are slashing prices. They understand they are doing one-off specials and they wait for them.

"So they perhaps go window shopping before the Christmas trading period starts, look out for what they want to buy and then buy them when they are on offer."

Lizzy Clarke, armed with bags of gifts in Southend, has made the most of the offers.

"They've got some great deals ... 75% off in some stores and I've just bought some jumpers that cost me £30 last week and this week have cost me £7," she said.

But Rob Antoniazz, who is unconvinced, said: "The decent items in good shops are never up for sale because the demand is there to buy them."

Tesco's distribution centre in Erith, Kent, has gone into overdrive

Half of the money being spent in the four days to the end of Monday will be on food, with £900m going towards online groceries.

Tesco has sold twice as many turkeys over the internet than last year. At its distribution centre in Erith, Kent, staff are working around the clock preparing orders.

Simon Belsham, the managing director of Online Grocery for the chain, said: "This is a really busy time of year for us. It really reflects that customers are looking for more and more convenient ways to shop for their Christmas presents and Christmas food."

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Tobacco Boss Quits Helm Of Silk Cut-Maker

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The executive who orchestrated Japan's biggest-ever takeover of a British company has quit his role at the helm of the manufacturer of Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut.

Sky News has learnt that Pierre de Labouchere, the president and chief executive of Japan Tobacco International (JTI), resigned with immediate effect.

The departure of Mr de Labouchere, who led Japan Tobacco's £7.5bn acquisition of Gallaher International in 2007, surprised analysts, who said they expected that the exit of such a senior executive would have been the subject of a public announcement.

JTI accounts for over half of its parent's global earnings and through its ownership of Gallaher's brands, which also included Mayfair, it now jostles with Imperial Tobacco for leadership of the UK cigarette market. British American Tobacco has a vast international presence but a comparatively small share of the UK market.

Mr de Labouchere has been replaced by Tom McCoy, previously the chief operating officer.

In a statement issued on Friday, a JTI spokesman said: "I confirm that Mr. Pierre de Labouchere has decided to resign from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer of JTI as of December 18th.

"Mr Thomas A McCoy has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of JTI. He brings in-depth knowledge of the business and a wealth of experience to this new responsibility. His 14 years with JTI have generated a proven track record of success in leading the international tobacco business at JTI."

JTI declined to comment on the reasons behind Mr de Labouchere's sudden departure but insiders said that another senior executive responsible for the company's mergers and acquisitions activity had also quit in recent days, suggesting some kind of strategic disagreement.

Mr de Labouchere, one of the most senior Frenchmen in a major Japanese company, led the takeover of Gallaher having previously been president of JR Reynolds' international operations, which were acquired by JTI in 1999.

JTI's UK operation is run directly by Jorge da Motta, who took over earlier this year.

He warned on his appointment that "the most challenging dynamic for the UK business is the high tax regime and the corresponding high level of non-UK duty paid cigarettes at a time when the Government is consulting on plain packaging".

"This makes the threat to legitimate businesses both small and large significant and dangerous," he added.

Headquartered in Geneva, JTI recorded sales of $11.8bn (£7.2bn) in 2012. The company has operations in more than 120 countries and about 25,000 employees.

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Cable Attacks PM Over 'Immigration Panic'

By Darren McCaffrey, Political Reporter

Business Secretary Vince Cable has accused the Prime Minister of panicking on the issue of immigration and comparing that panic to the notorious 'Rivers of Blood' speech made by Enoch Powell.

Referring to previous periods of heightened tensions, Mr Cable said politicians had a responsibility to give the facts and not resort to populist tactics.

David Cameron arriving at the EU summit last week

In a series of attacks on the Conservative's stance on immigration made on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Cable said: "The responsibility of politicians in this situation when people are getting anxious is to try to reassure them and give the facts, not panic and resort to populist measures that do harm.

"The 75,000 cap is illegal and impossible to implement in any event. I think what's happening here, the Conservatives are in a bit of a panic because of Ukip (UK Independence Party) reacting in the way they are.

"All the evidence suggests that they put far more into the economy in terms of tax than they take out in benefits."

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev

Meanwhile the Bulgarian President has warned David Cameron he risks being judged by history as a Prime Minister who has isolated the UK and damaged its reputation.

Rosen Plevneliev said his countrymen were watching Britain's immigration debate unfold and raising questions about the "democratic, tolerant and humane British society".

Transitional controls on Romanian and Bulgarian migrants will be lifted in two weeks.

Some think-tanks have warned that 50,000 people could arrive from the two countries each year.

Mr Cameron has reacted to concerns about the move with a string of interventions including to limit access to benefits for those travelling to the UK.

At the European Council meeting in Brussels this week he threatened to veto the EU-accession of new countries such as Albania and Serbia without strict immigration rules.

One idea put forward by the PM is to set a GDP limit below which countries will not be given free movement of labour if they join the EU.

Mr Plevneliev said he feared for the safety of Bulgarians in Britain. He said "iron curtains" should not remain in the 20th century, arguing this was a time to bring down walls, not to build them.

"Mr Cameron should never forget that a politician is remembered in history not with the everyday business," he said.

Transitional controls on Romanians and Bulgarians to be lifted in two weeks

Reacting to Mr Cable's comments, a Number 10 spokesperson said: "Vince is a member of the government and supports government policy. The words he chooses to do that are up to him."

Meanwhile, Labour has accused the Government of being spilt on the issue. Shadow immigration minister David Hanson MP, said: "Government measures could have been taken much earlier and a sense of panic and hyperbole could have been avoided.

"Instead we have the chaos of the Prime Minister and Home Secretary (Theresa May) pretending to pull up the draw bridge and the Lib Dems doing nothing to reform the labour market - both approaches deeply damaging to Britain and local workers."

Mark Field, a Conservative backbencher, has also entered the debate saying the tough talk on immigration could turn off non-white voters.

He has warned Mr Cameron not to repeat the mistakes made by Mitt Romney - the US Republican candidate - in 2012.

He said failure to reach out to the Hispanic community had meant it had failed to understand his stance on immigration.

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Apple Strikes iPhone Deal With China Mobile

Apple has finally secured a deal to bring the iPhone to China Mobile, the world's biggest network, opening the door to a massive sales boost.

The state-owned network has more than 750 million subscribers.

The latest iPhone 5S and 5C will go on sale in the country from January 17 with analysts forecasting a sales surge of anywhere between 10 and 25 million over the next year.

China's granting of 4G licences earlier this month is thought to have helped the deal as the faster network is compatible with the iPhone.

In a statement promoting the deal, Apple and China Mobile said they were "excited" to finally be working together.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said: "Apple has enormous respect for China Mobile and we are excited to begin working together. China is an extremely important market for Apple and our partnership with China Mobile presents us the opportunity to bring iPhone to the customers of the world's largest network."

While popular around the world, the iPhone has faced tough competition in China from cheaper Android smartphones made by the likes of Samsung. Collectively, Android phones far outsell iPhone models.

Apple's cheaper 5C model, released earlier this year, was widely seen as an attempt to crack the Chinese market.

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British Airways Plane 'Crash' In Johannesburg

A British Airways plane has crashed into a building at Johannesburg Airport in South Africa.

The aircraft, carrying 182 passengers, sliced its wing through the building while taxiing on the runway, BA confirmed.

Posting on Twitter, the airline said: "One of our aircraft was damaged whilst taxiing at JNB airport. All 182 passengers disembarked safely with no injuries onboard."

There has so far been no comment made on whether anyone was injured in the building or on the ground.

The plane involved is believed to be a Boeing 747.

British Airways says nobody in the plane was injured. Pic: John Hart

Harriet Tolputt, Oxfam's head of Media, who was on the flight, posted pictures of the incident on Twitter.

She wrote: "BA plane crashes into building at J Burg airport. No one injured only the pilot's pride ... Not impressed that first class passengers get off before premium economy during an emergency."

Johannesburg Airport said it would be able to provide more information on the incident later in the morning.

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SFO Investigates Rolls-Royce Bribery Claims

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has started a formal investigation into bribery and corruption allegations at Rolls-Royce.

The claims first came to light a year ago when the SFO ordered the world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines to conduct an inquiry and hand over details of possible wrongdoing in China, Indonesia and other markets.

"We have been informed by the Serious Fraud Office that it has now commenced a formal investigation into these matters," Rolls-Royce said on Monday.

Last December, the company said it was co-operating with regulators relating to allegations of malpractice involving intermediaries in Indonesia and China.

The aerospace and defence group said then it had "identified matters of concern in these, and in other overseas markets."

Shares in the company, which operates in more than 50 countries across the world, were 0.2% down in the minutes following the announcement.

The group, which has major sites at Derby and Bristol and employs around 45,000 people, appointed veteran lawyer Lord Gold last year to review the company's compliance procedures in the wake of the claims.

In March, the company appointed BP director Ian Davis, a former managing director of management consultancy McKinsey & Co, as chairman.

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Weather Damages 'Biggest Xmas Shopping Day'

A predicted high street spending spree dubbed 'Manic Monday' has largely failed to materialise, with strong winds and heavy rain combining to force late-Christmas shoppers indoors.

Analysts had expected 15 million people to take to stores, spending £2.6m a minute on gifts, food, drink and decorations.

But the spending spree appears set to fall short of retailers' expectations after the bad weather disrupted travel and left shoppers seeking shelter.

Despite huge red signs announcing sales of up to 70%, many shops on London's Oxford Street were experiencing customer numbers they would see on a normal day rather than those you would expect just two days before Christmas.

One M&S shopper said: "With the weather, well, it's really quiet.

"A few years ago you wouldn't have been able to get in here."

Major indoor centres, however, were expected to have benefited from the storm.

The Waitrose department store-supermarket in London's Canary Wharf had long queues waiting at tills while car parks at Manchester's Trafford Centre were reported to be full.

Retailers had expected their biggest day of the year, with shoppers parting with about £3.6bn by the end of the day.

Visa expected to process 31 million transactions on UK cards with a peak between 1pm and 2pm as workers rushed out to the shops on their lunch break.

Visa predicted an average £15,000 per second would be spent on its cards.

Many retailers have been furiously discounting prices over the past few days in a bid to attract shoppers amid signs of a slow start to the big festive spend.

While the prospect of bargains bodes well for consumers who left their shopping late, there are fears the price cuts will leave the retail sector with a profits hangover after a bruising battle for business during 2013.

Large promotions have included a 30% discount across clothing lines at Marks & Spencer, as well as price cuts at Debenhams, Gap, Argos and BHS.

John Lewis confirmed on Sunday it had enjoyed record weekly sales with takings hitting £164m - up 4.2% on the same period last year - though its customers tend to be less affected by the squeeze on incomes than the average consumer.

Many supermarket chains planned to keep their biggest stores open 24 hours daily until late on Christmas Eve.

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M&S Says Sorry Over Alcohol Refusal

Marks & Spencer has apologised after a Muslim member of staff refused to sell a customer alcohol.

The retailer said that where employees have religious beliefs that restrict what foods or drinks they can handle, it tries to place them in a "suitable role".

An M&S spokeswoman said: "We regret that in the case highlighted we were not following our own internal policy."

The issue arose after an unnamed customer at a London store told the Telegraph they were "taken aback" when an "extremely apologetic" Muslim checkout worker asked for them to wait for another till to become available.

The customer told the newspaper: "I had one bottle of champagne, and the lady, who was wearing a headscarf, was very apologetic but said she could not serve me. She told me to wait until another member of staff was available.

"I was taken aback. I was a bit surprised. I've never come across that before."

Drinking alcohol is forbidden in Islam, and some Muslims refuse to handle it.

M&S said its policy applied to staff of other religions, not just Islam.

The spokeswoman said: "Where we have an employee whose religious beliefs restrict food or drink they can handle, we work closely with our members of staff to place them in suitable role, such as in our clothing department or bakery in foods...

"As a secular business we have an inclusive policy that welcomes all religious beliefs whether across our customer or employee base.

"This policy has been in place for many years, and when followed correctly, we do not believe that it should compromise our ability to offer the highest level of customer service.

"We apologise that this policy was not followed in the case reported."

The case highlighted differences among retailers on whether religious staff should have to carry out certain jobs, the Telegraph said.

Sainsbury's guidelines say that there is no reason why staff who don't drink alcohol or eat pork on religious grounds could not handle them, the paper said, while Tesco said it made "no sense" for staff who refuse to touch items for religious reasons to work on a till.

Muslims working at Asda would not have to work on tills if they objected to handling alcohol, and Morrisons would "respect and work around anyone's wishes not to handle specific products for religious or cultural reasons", the paper added.

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Lloyds Shares Sale: Taxpayers 'Lost £230m'

Taxpayers took a £230m hit from the sale of a 6% chunk of Lloyds Banking Group shares to the private sector, says a National Audit Office (NAO) report.

The figure appears to undermine a claim at the time by Chancellor George Osborne that the share sale in September represented "a profit for taxpayers".

The Government acquired a 39% chunk of Lloyds Banking Group in 2009, in the wake of the financial crisis after it swallowed up troubled Halifax Bank of Scotland.

It returned a 6% portion of the bank to the private sector with a share sale to institutional investors earlier this year.

The £230m loss takes into account the cost of borrowing money to fund the £20bn bank bailout in 2009.

George Osborne claimed taxpayers made a profit from the shares sale

It would suggest that the overall loss of the bailout for the bank could be nearly £1.5bn if the rest of the taxpayer stake is sold off at a similar price.

Mr Osborne trumpeted in the autumn that the £6.2bn Lloyds share sale had resulted in the national debt being reduced by more than half a billion pounds.

That claim was later backed in data from the Office for National Statistics.

This £586m figure represented the difference between the value for accounting purposes of the shares on the Treasury's books - at 61p - and the 75p sale price.

The Treasury acknowledged at the time of the sell-off that the cash profit was far less, at £61m.

The latest report does not dispute these calculations but it takes into account the effective interest paid by the Government to make the bailout investments.

It also recommends that the Treasury should consider these financing costs when analysing the value to the taxpayer of any future sale.

However the report, which is broadly positive about the handling of the sale, said: "This shortfall should be seen as part of the cost of securing the benefits of stability during the financial crisis, rather than any reflection on the sale process."

UK Financial Investments, which manages the Government's stakes in the bailed-out banks, ran the sale.

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Plastic Notes Issued In UK From 2016

Plastic banknotes are to be issued for the first time when the new £5 featuring Sir Winston Churchill appears in 2016.

A £10 note featuring Jane Austen to follow around a year later will also be made from polymer rather than the cotton paper currently used, the Bank of England said.

It follows a three-year research programme that concluded plastic notes stay cleaner for longer, are more difficult to counterfeit and are at least 2.5 times longer-lasting.

A public consultation, giving people the chance to handle the notes, found 87% of 13,000 individuals who responded were in favour of polymer.

Bank governor Mark Carney said: "Ensuring trust and confidence in money is at the heart of what central banks do. Polymer notes are the next step in the evolution of bank note design to meet that objective.

"The quality of polymer notes is higher, they are more secure from counterfeiting, and they can be produced at a lower cost to the taxpayer and the environment."

The new notes will stay cleaner and last longer than cotton paper

The new notes will retain their familiar look, the Bank said, including the portrait of the Queen and a historical character.

A contract is expected to be signed with Innovia Security to supply polymer material, which would see Innovia establish a polymer production plant in Wigton, Cumbria.

The Bank acknowledged when it launched its consultation in September that plastic banknotes were more expensive to produce.

But it argued that because they are longer-lasting they should prove cheaper in the long run.

It also says that, being thin and flexible, they can fit into wallets as easily as paper banknotes.

The Bank said the new notes would be slightly smaller than existing paper notes, but the practice of note size increasing with denomination will be maintained.

More than 25 countries issue polymer banknotes, including Australia - which began printing them in 1988 - as well as New Zealand, Mexico, Singapore, Canada, and most recently Fiji and Mauritius.

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Debenhams Hits Suppliers With 'Santa Tax'

Debenhams has told suppliers they will be paid 2.5% less for their goods to fund expansion plans - just eight days before Christmas.

The department store wrote to key suppliers of its own-brand wares explaining they would take the money from their accounts, without negotiation.

The move has been described by some as a "Santa tax".

Finance chief Simon Herrick wrote to suppliers telling them that they had to contribute to modernisation plans.

He said: "As we will mutually benefit from the growth of Debenhams we are now seeking a contribution from our suppliers to support our commitment to on-going investment.

Debenhams reported a small fall in profts in August

He said this would include: "A single sum contribution on all outstanding payments on your account at close December 17. An additional discount of 2.5% applied to all open orders on our system at close on December 17.

"This is a contribution and not a permanent amendment to your trading terms with Debenhams."

The firm denied that it was an attempt to boost poor Christmas trading, adding: "We have asked suppliers for a contribution to support our commitment to ongoing investment in the business."

Debenhams' chief executive Michael Sharp has been facing fierce competition from rivals as consumers cut back spending on all but the most essential of items.

The modernisation programme has included a £25m facelift for London's Oxford Street branch but this has so far failed to improve the chain's financial performance.

The company reported a 2.7% fall in pre-tax profits to £154m in the year to the end of August.

Debenhams is planning to open 14 new stores over the next four years.

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Bitcoin Value Slumps Amid China Restrictions

The virtual currency Bitcoin has dramatically fallen in value after China's biggest trading platform banned deposits in yuan.

BTC China said the action follows new regulations from Beijing, which keeps a tight grip on the yuan and enforces capital controls, which the e-currency threatens to upend.

At its peak, Bitcoin traded at $1,250 (£764) but on Wednesday one Bitcoin was listed for sale for as little as $636 (£389).

Bitcoin was invented after the global financial crisis by a mysterious computer guru and can be stored either virtually or on a user's hard drive.

The e-money offers a largely anonymous payment system, which China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, warned can be used for illegal activities.

Two weeks ago it ordered financial institutions against providing Bitcoin-related services and products.

The central bank reportedly banned domestic third-party payment companies from providing clearing services for virtual currency trading platforms earlier this week.

Analysts worry the new restrictions will all but destroy Bitcoin trading in China.

"If the channel for depositing yuan in the platforms was completely cut off, all domestic exchanges would be invalid," James Gong, a digital currency expert and member of the US-based Bitcoin Foundation, told AFP.

"Bitcoin trading might be forced underground or shift to overseas markets," he said.

BTC China posted an apology on its website for the new ban on deposits, calling the measure "temporary".

"Due to new government regulations, BTC China will temporarily suspend CNY (yuan) deposits.

"Rest assured that BTC China will continue to operate normally. We deeply apologise for any inconvenience."

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New Runways For Gatwick And Heathrow Airports

Building a controversial third runway at Heathrow airport has been shortlisted as one of the options for expansion by the Airports Commission in its first report.

The interim findings of an independent inquiry led by the former head of the Financial Services Authority, Sir Howard Davies, has also recommended a second runway for Gatwick airport.

Sir Howard has also said he would consider the idea of building a new airport in the Thames Estuary, plans for which have been backed by the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, although he did not include it on the shortlist of options.

He warned if the UK did not expand its airports then it would cost the economy £45bn over 60 years and that to cope with increasing passenger numbers the first new runway should be operation by 2030, the second by 2050.

Sir Howard said: "The UK enjoys excellent connectivity today. The capacity challenge is not yet critical but it will become so if no action is taken soon and our analysis clearly supports the provision of one net additional runway by 2030.

Heathrow dealt with 70 million passengers last year

"In the meantime we encourage the government to act on our recommendations to make the best of our existing capacity."

He said that politicians would have to chose which runway to build first - one at Gatwick or one at Heathrow - as work on them would not be able to be carried out at the same time.

A third runway for Heathrow has met with bitter opposition and the publication of the report will likely trigger a substantial political row.

The Conservative party made its opposition to plans for the airport's expansion – supported by the Labour government - part of its 2010 election manifesto and ruled a third runway out when the coalition came to power.

Among the most vociferous opponents have been Mr Johnson and the Conservative MP, Zac Goldsmith, a keen environmentalist whose constituency is in the flight path.

Mr Johnson told Sky News that building another runway at Heathrow would be "bonkers".

He said that both the new runway options for Heathrow would involve "concreting over the M25 probably closing that major artery for five years at the least".

Plans for a third runway at Heathrow have been controversial

And he said that a second strip for Gatwick would make no difference to dealing with the air traffic.

He said: "A new airport in the inner estuary is the only credible hub option left, and the only one that would uphold this country's claim to be the natural financial, commercial and economic capital of Europe."

Last week he threatened to call for a judicial review if plans for the four-runway airport on the Isle of Grain, which at £112bn would cost five times as much as Heathrow expansion, were not included in the commission's report.

The commission said it had not shortlisted the Thames Estuary plan "because there are too many uncertainties and challenges surrounding them at this stage".

However, it will undertake further study of plans to see whether it was a "credible proposal" and may include it on the shortlist next summer.

Gatwick is running at 85% of its total capacity

The Airport Commission's final report will be submitted in the summer of 2015, after the next General Election, and the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin said the Government would not indicate a preference on options until after that.

Mr Goldsmith, who has suggested he would leave the Tory party over the issue, said last week that any decision by the Prime Minister to back Heathrow expansion would represent an "off-the-scale betrayal".

Heathrow is currently operating at 98% of its capacity with 65m travellers using it in 2012 but the report pointed out that it was so busy passengers suffered "a high level of delay and unreliability".

If it is not allowed to expand, those in favour of a third runway claim that travellers to Europe will opt to fly into airports at Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam instead, at a cost to the UK economy.

Heathrow representatives told the commission that a third runway could be operating by 2029 allowing 260,000 more flights a year.

Boris Johnson says a third runway for Heathrow would be "crackers"

There are two options for the extra runway - to build a 3,500m (11,500ft) strip to the north west of the site or to extend the northern runway to 6,000m (20,000ft) and use one half for take-offs and the other for landings.

The north west option would see 1,500 homes demolished and the loss of 30 listed buildings, the extension would see 720 homes flattened and affect eight listed buildings.

Heathrow chief executive Colin Matthews welcomed the report saying: "I think the report we received today is good news for trade, for jobs and for the UK as a whole."

However, Keith Taylor, Green Party MEP for the South East, said: "The political opposition to airport expansion in south east England is sadly melting away.

"There's no doubt that the Government will be pleased with this report. It gives them the cover they need to go on avoiding answering difficult questions on airport expansion and to prepare themselves for a colossal U-turn on Heathrow expansion."

The idea of expansion at Gatwick, which is currently running at 85% of its capacity and full capacity at peak times, has also met with opposition. It would be built to the south of the existing runway.

Georgia Wrighton, director of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England in Sussex, said: "A second runway at Gatwick, together with sprawling development and car parks anticipated on a massive scale, would concrete over cherished open countryside."

The report did not include options for a new runway for Stansted or Birmingham airports, as had been suggested.

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Fracking Plans For Two-Thirds Of England

Two-thirds of England could be opened up to the highly controversial process of fracking under a Government-backed drive for shale gas.

Energy firms will be given the chance to bid for licences to drill across every county, apart from Cornwall, including National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Energy minister Michael Fallon said shale gas exploration could bring growth, jobs and energy security to the UK.

The announcement has prompted an angry response from environmentalists who said the plans would cast a "dark shadow" over many communities in Britain.

Critics of the process of using high-pressure water to blast gas from rock deep underground say that it is highly damaging to the environment with risk of pollution from the waste water. Fracking has also been found to cause earth tremors.

A report by engineering giant Amec set out the potential benefits of shale gas, including the creation of between 16,000 and 32,000 jobs, and £100,000 to communities where sites are based.

Fracking has sparked angry protests at Balcombe in Sussex

Mr Fallon said that shale gas production in the United States was having an "enormous impact" on household bills.

He said: "It has the potential to have an impact here. It can reduce our dependency on liquid natural gas.

"We face the prospect of having to import 70% of our gas by 2030 if we have not found any shale by then."

Greenpeace said that allowing fracking on such a large scale - half of Britain and two-thirds of England - would create enough waste water to fill 40,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Friends of the Earth energy campaigner Tony Bosworth said: "These plans cast a dark shadow over many communities across Britain who could now face the threat of fracking in their backyard.

"The Government admits shale gas and coal bed methane development could have significant impacts on local people and the environment, while experts say they won't bring down energy bills."

Fracking has proved to be hugely controversial, sparking protests in areas including Balcombe in Sussex.

Fracking involves blasting rock with water to release gas

The  Amec report, which said as many as 2,880 wells could be drilled across Britain, warned that communities at the heart of fracking projects would be badly affected by site traffic.

It said that they would see as many as 51 truck journeys a day for three years.

Consultations will be held in the coming months, and a new licensing round to allow companies to explore for shale gas will be launched in the summer.

Mr Fallon forecast a high degree of interest from companies, with between 50 and 150 licences issued.

He said: "There could be large amounts of shale gas available in the UK, but we won't know for sure the scale of this prize until further exploration takes place."

A report out earlier this year by the British Geological Survey suggested there could be enough shale gas in the north of England to supply Britain for 40 years.

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Metro Bank Chairman Hill Cuts Stake In Lender

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The founder and chairman of Metro Bank has reduced his stake in Britain's first new high street lender for more than a century as part of a £385m fundraising.

Sky News has obtained documents circulated among Metro Bank shareholders on Tuesday which reveal that Vernon Hill has opted not to take up his entitled allocation of shares during the cash call, which is aimed at accelerating the company's expansion.

The documents show that Mr Hill now holds just under 4.6m shares, compared to more than 3.8m a month ago. However, the volume of new shares being issued means that the chairman now owns just under 9% of Metro Bank's 'A' shares, a sharp reduction from the 13% he owned prior to the latest capital-raising.

Metro Bank confirmed to existing investors this week that it had secured nearly £300m in the initial phase and would now proceed with a further £100m to provide funds to expand its rapidly-growing branch network.

"The previous offer, which closed on December 6 2013, successfully raised £287.5m and was oversubscribed with exceptionally strong demand from both existing and new shareholders. This additional capital raise will be used to further support Metro Bank's continued unprecedented growth in deposits, lending and accounts and offers the opportunity to further strengthen our shareholder base," Mike Brierley, chief financial officer, said.

"A number of significant international investors subscribed or wished to subscribe in the last round. We hope to be able to fulfil their orders in this follow-on offer."

Sky News revealed last month that Metro Bank was seeking £285m to accelerate its growth, following the introduction of rules aimed at making it easier for customers to switch current account providers.

Among the lender's existing shareholders are the billionaire Reuben brothers and Steven Cohen, the head of the US hedge fund SAC Capital, which was last month the subject of the biggest-ever insider trading settlement in the US.

The documents circulated this week also name Brave Heart Connection, an American connection, as a major Metro Bank shareholder, while Wellington Management has doubled the size of its stake.

A recent circular to shareholders outlined the escalating losses at Metro Bank, which lost £14.3m before tax in the three months to September and £38.6m in the year-to-date. That took the lender's total losses since being set up to nearly £140m.

However, Vernon Hill, chairman, and Craig Donaldson, chief executive, told shareholders that the second quarter of 2013 "will therefore have marked the peak quarterly loss and that quarterly losses will now fall until the bank achieves profitability".

The losses underline the costs associated with breaking into the UK's retail banking sector at a time when Government ministers are attempting to foment new competition through a string of new policy measures, including reducing capital and liquidity requirements for new entrants.

Metro Bank declined to comment.

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Jobless Fall Raises Chance Of Interest Rate Rise

A big fall in the number of unemployed has raised the prospect of interest rates rising much earlier than expected.

The latest official figures showed 99,000 fewer people were jobless in the three months to October while the number in work topped 30 million for the first time on record.

It meant the jobless total fell to 2.39 million - the biggest cut in over a decade - over the period.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that left the jobless rate at 7.4% - its lowest level for more than four years - and nearing the threshold for when the Bank of England may consider raising borrowing costs by increasing the base rate of interest.

The number of people in work was 30.09 million, an increase of 250,000 over the quarter and of almost 500,000 compared with a year ago.

Private sector employment reached a record high of 24.4 million, and long-term and youth unemployment also fell.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 36,700

But 1.47 million people were in part-time jobs because they could not find full-time work, the highest total since records began in 1992.

Other data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a 45,000 fall in those classed as economically inactive, to 8.92 million - a rate of 22% and the lowest since 1991.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell by 36,700 in November to 1.27 million, the 13th consecutive monthly cut.

The number of people unemployed for more than a year fell by 33,000 to 866,000, the lowest for over a year, while youth unemployment dipped by 19,000 to 941,000.

Public sector employment increased slightly, by 4,000, to 5.6 million, largely because of a rise in the NHS, although the figure fell by 11,000 in local government.

The employment rate for over-65s is now 10%, the highest since records began in 1992.

Average earnings increased by 0.9% in the year to October, down by 0.1% on the previous month, giving a weekly average of £476.

Nigel Meager, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies, said: "Today's statistics from ONS show another strong improvement, confirming that the UK labour market recovery is well under way."

Employment Minister Esther McVey said: "It is really encouraging news that the number of people in jobs has increased by a quarter of a million in the last three months, bringing the total number of people in work to a record-breaking 30 million.

"Together with a big fall in unemployment, this shows that the Government's long-term economic plan to get people off benefits and into work is proving successful."

The Bank of England has said it won't consider raising the base rate of interest from 0.5% until the unemployment rate falls to 7%.

It currently expects that rate to be achieved in the latter half of 2015 though economists raised fears today that consumers may endure rising borrowing costs earlier, as a result of the acceleration in the job market's recovery.

In a separate development the Bank of England said Britain's economic recovery may be at risk if sterling strengthens much further.

The bank said that the 2% appreciation in sterling over the previous month reflected a stronger economic outlook, but could jeopardise exports.

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Hinkley Point Nuclear Deal With EDF Faces Probe

An inquiry has been launched into whether a £16bn government deal with French energy giant EDF to build a nuclear plant in the UK meets EU rules.

Britain has agreed to subsidise the project to build two reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, promising guaranteed power prices from the plant for 35 years.

The European Commission said it wanted the views of third parties because of the unprecedented nature and scale of the Hinkley deal.

It said it had "doubts that the project suffers from a genuine market failure" and it would assess whether the nuclear plant could in fact be built without government support.

"When public money is spent to support companies, the Commission has the duty to verify that this is done in line with the EU state aid rules," it added.

The coalition signed a deal with EDF in October to build the two reactors at Hinkley Point C, the country's first nuclear plant in two decades.

EDF is heading a consortium to build the plant, which will take about 10 years to build.

The project could derail David Cameron's efforts to lure £110bn of investment into Britain's ageing electricity infrastructure by the end of the decade.

Regulators have warned that the UK risks blackouts unless it speeds efforts to replace obsolete power plants.

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Facebook And Banks To Face IPO Lawsuit

Facebook, its CEO and several banks must face a lawsuit over alleged misleading of investors ahead of the company's initial public offering, a judge has ruled.

Mark Zuckerberg and dozens of banks are accused of misleading investors about the social media company's financial condition before its $16bn IPO in May 2012.

In a decision made public on Wednesday, US District Judge Robert Sweet said investors could pursue claims that Facebook omitted material information from its registration statement.

The investors had alleged, among other things, that Facebook should have disclosed internal projections on how increased mobile usage and product decisions might reduce future revenue.

On Monday, Judge Sweet ruled that investors could also pursue claims accusing Nasdaq OMX Group Inc of concealing technology problems that resulted in difficulties in processing trades on Facebook's first day of trading.

More follows...

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Lloyds Fined £28m For Sales Incentive Scheme

Lloyds Banking Group has been fined £28m for "serious failings" which rewarded sales staff with 'grand in your hand' bonuses, even when products they sold consumers were deemed unsuitable.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the penalty was the biggest it had imposed against a retail banking operation, which took in behaviour at Lloyds TSB, Bank of Scotland (BoS) and Halifax between 2010 and March 2012 - a period when it became clear that Lloyds was particularly exposed to the separate payment protection insurance mis-selling scandal.

The regulator said the bonus schemes at the heart of its inquiry put pressure on sales staff to hit targets relating to investment products such as stocks and share Isas and insurance protection products.

In one instance, an adviser was found to have sold insurance products to himself, his wife and a colleague to prevent himself being demoted.

The FCA said the bonus schemes had worrying "higher risk" features, which offered the potential of an automatic promotion and pay rise or salary cuts of up to 50% if targets were not met.

Lloyds Banking Group is run by Antonio Horta-Osorio

Lloyds TSB also offered a so-called "champagne bonus" that could see an adviser land a windfall worth 35% of their monthly salary, while Halifax and BoS paid one-off monthly prizes, such as a "grand in your hand."

The investigation found that 70% of advisers at Lloyds TSB and 30% at Halifax still received their monthly bonus, even though a high proportion of their sales were found - by the firms themselves - to be unsuitable or potentially unsuitable.

A further 229 advisers at Lloyds TSB received a bonus even when all of their assessed sales were deemed unsuitable or potentially unsuitable; and 30 advisers received a bonus in the same circumstances on more the one occasion.

Tracey McDermott, the FCA's director of enforcement and financial crime, said the fine was increased as Lloyds ignored repeated industry warnings from regulators over incentive schemes.

She added: "The findings do not make pleasant reading.

"Financial incentive schemes are an important indicator of what management values and a key influence on the culture of the organisation, so they must be designed with the customer at the heart.

"The review of incentive schemes that we published last year makes it quite clear that this is something to which we expect all firms to adhere. 

"Customers have a right to expect better from our leading financial institutions and we expect firms to put customers first - but firms will never be able to do this if they incentivise their staff to do the opposite.

"Both Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland have made substantial changes, and the reviews of sales and the redress now being made should right many of these wrongs," she concluded.

Lloyds Banking Group - which has since split the TSB operation into a separate brand - responded to the penalty by apologising.

Its statement said: "The Group has already commenced a review to address potential customer impacts that may have occurred as a result of these failings.

"We are already contacting customers, and will continue to contact potentially affected customers over the coming months. Customers do not need to take any action at this stage to be included in the review and they will be contacted in due course.

"The Group recognises that its oversight of these particular schemes during the period in question was inadequate and apologises to its customers for the impact that they may have had.

"We are determined to ensure that any customer impacts are dealt with quickly and fully."

It concluded: "The cost of the enforcement and the review is not expected to have a material impact on the Group."

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RBS Finance Chief Bostock Quits After Ten Weeks

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The new chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) suffered a huge blow on Tuesday when his finance chief quit less than 10 weeks after he joined its board.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Nathan Bostock, who was appointed as RBS' finance director on October 1, has resigned to join the Spanish bank Santander UK as its chief risk officer and deputy chief executive.

The timing of Mr Bostock's prospective exit from RBS is unclear, while his move to Santander is understood to be subject to regulatory approval.

Both banks were attempting to keep Mr Bostock's defection under wraps on Tuesday, until Sky News's disclosure of his move forced RBS into an after-hours announcement.

"The Royal Bank of Scotland Group can confirm that Nathan Bostock has this evening informed the Board of his intention to resign from his role as Group Finance Director," it said in a statement.

"His formal resignation is expected soon, but he will remain in his position to oversee an orderly handover of his responsibilities. Details on arrangements for his successor will be announced in due course."

Mr Bostock's exit will cause a significant headache for Ross McEwan, the taxpayer-backed bank's chief executive, who is conducting a comprehensive review of the bank's operations.

Mr McEwan is wrestling with a succession of IT problems which last month caused hundreds of thousands of the bank's customers to be left stranded after a computer systems failure.

He has pledged to overhaul RBS''approach to customers, strengthened by a new management team, of which Mr Bostock was supposed to become an integral part.

"(The) systems failure was unacceptable," Mr McEwan said in a statement. "(It) was a busy shopping day and far too many of our customers were let down, unable to make purchases and withdraw cash.

"For decades, RBS failed to invest properly in its systems. We need to put our customers' needs at the centre of all we do. It will take time, but we are investing heavily in building IT systems our customers can rely on."

Given his background as RBS' restructuring chief, Mr Bostock was expected to play a particularly prominent role in the creation of a £38bn internal 'bad bank' announced last month.

His defection represents the second time in as many years that Mr Bostock has left the board of one of Britain's major banks in the lurch after agreeing to take a senior new role.

In 2011, he was due to leave his position as the head of restructuring and risk at RBS to run the wholesale operations of Lloyds Banking Group, but changed his mind after Antonio Horta-Osorio, the Lloyds chief executive, took a period of sick leave.

Mr Bostock, a former Abbey National executive, was then promoted to the finance director's post at RBS after the bank announced that the incumbent, Bruce Van Saun, was leaving the UK to run Citizens, its US retail bank.

As part of a review of RBS' operations ordered by George Osborne, the Chancellor, RBS has agreed to accelerate the sale of Citizens.

It is unclear whether the Prudential Regulation Authority will look dimly on Mr Bostock's move, given the juxtaposition of the significant size of RBS' balance sheet and relative inexperience of its senior team.

Mr McEwan only joined RBS last year after a career spent in retail banking, while Mr Hester's recent departure as well as that of John Hourican, the investment bank chief, has left RBS' executive ranks thin on top-level banking experience.

A person close to the situation said that Mr McEwan's review of RBS' operations was likely to entail significant change at the bank, and that the recruitment of an outsider as his finance director looked logical in that context.

Mr Bostock's appointment as deputy chief executive of Santander UK is understood to have been accompanied by an assurance that he will be in line to replace Ana Botin as the bank's chief executive when she steps down.

Santander is expected to float its UK arm in the next couple of years.

Santander declined to comment.

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GM Puts Brakes On Australia Car Production

Australia's auto industry has taken another step towards extinction following confirmation General Motors (GM) is to shut its Holden manufacturing plants by 2017 with the loss of 2,900 jobs.

The Holden brand - which is GM's Australian equivalent of Vauxhall in the UK - currently operates two plants in Adelaide and in Melbourne.

The move leaves Toyota as the only major car manufacturer in Australia but the Japanese firm confirmed after GM's announcement that it was now reviewing its own future in the country.

Holden's decision to move to a national sales company comes after Ford said in May it would stop making vehicles at its unprofitable Australian factories in 2016, with the loss of 1,200 jobs.

With Mitsubishi closing its Adelaide plant five years ago, only Toyota Australia - which employs more than 4,000 workers - will be left making cars in the country.

"The decision to end manufacturing in Australia reflects the perfect storm of negative influences the automotive industry faces in the country," GM chief executive Dan Akerson said in a statement.

"This includes the sustained strength of the Australian dollar, high cost of production, small domestic market and arguably the most competitive and fragmented auto market in the world."

He made the announcement following confirmation he was to be replaced by life-long GM employee, Mary Barra, who was to become the company's first female CEO.

Holden, maker of the iconic Commodore car, said 2,900 jobs would be axed over the next four years - 1,600 from its Elizabeth vehicle manufacturing plant in Adelaide and approximately 1,300 from the workforce in Melbourne.

It spells the end of a long association with Australia. Holden began as a saddlery in 1856 before manufacturing cars in 1948.

Unions have warned of a multi-billion-dollar hole in the economy and the loss of up to 50,000 automotive industry-related jobs if car manufacturing in Australia ends altogether.

Toyota said of GM's decision: "This will place unprecedented pressure on the local supplier network and our ability to build cars in Australia."

"We will now work with our suppliers, key stakeholders and the government to determine our next steps and whether we can continue operating as the sole vehicle manufacturer in Australia."

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said it expected Toyota to follow Holden's lead.

"It's now highly likely that Toyota will leave Australia. In fact it's almost certain," AMWU national vehicles division secretary Dave Smith told reporters.

"It's a very bleak day indeed."

Treasurer Joe Hockey said the government would work closely with the state governments and unions to ensure Holden's departure "does not lead to a significant economic downturn in South Australia or Victoria".

"We will do everything to help in this transition," he told parliament.

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US Budget Deal Should Avoid New Shutdown

Congressional negotiators have staged a rare show of bipartisanship to reach a modest US budget agreement, which should eliminate the threat of another partial government shutdown early next year.

The plan - expected to be approved by both houses of Congress - restores about $63bn (£38bn) in automatic spending cuts from programmes ranging from parks to the Defense Department.

Spending increases would be offset by a variety of increased fees and other provisions elsewhere in the budget totalling about $85bn (£52bn) over a decade, leaving enough for a largely symbolic cut of about $23bn in the nation's debt, now standing at $17trn and growing.

The White House quickly issued a statement from President Barack Obama praising the deal as a "good first step".

He urged lawmakers in both parties to follow up and "actually pass a budget based on this agreement so I can sign it into law and our economy can continue growing and creating jobs without more Washington headwinds".

National Parks were closed during October's shutdown

While bipartisan approval is expected in Congress, there remains grumbling from liberals over the omission of an extension of long-term unemployment benefits while Tea Party-aligned groups are pushing Republicans to oppose it.

But there is confidence there is enough support behind the agreement to prevent a repeat of the partial shutdown, which marred the start of the US federal budget year on October 1.

That fight centred on Republican attempts to block funding for the President's overhaul to the health care system.

The country also came close to the first-ever federal default when Congress could not reach agreement on raising the debt ceiling.

Republicans eventually relented and agreed to a short-term deal to fund the federal government and raise the debt ceiling when it became clear that Americans were deeply angered over their tactics.

Announcement of the new deal came from the two negotiators, Democrat Senator Patty Murray and Republican Paul Ryan.

Ms Murray said: "We have broken through the partisanship and gridlock" that could have produced a government shutdown in January.

While Tuesday's agreement would have little impact on deficits, it holds the potential for avoiding politically charged budget clashes for the next year or two.

Many Americans were angry about the shutdown

But the plan does nothing to address three of the big drivers of American deficit spending - the Medicare government health insurance programme for the elderly, the Medicaid aid programme for the poor and the Social Security government pension system.

Conservatives are upset that the plan rolls back automatic spending cuts, known as the sequester, while liberals are angered about the requirement that federal employees will have to pay more toward their pension accounts.

Significantly for Democrats, they failed in their bid to include an extension of benefits for workers unemployed longer than 26 weeks.

The programme expires on December 28, when payments will be cut off for an estimated 1.3 million individuals.

Officials said that under the agreement, an estimated $63bn in automatic spending cuts would be restored through the end of the next budget year, which runs to September 30, 2015.

The offsetting $85bn in deficit cuts would play out over a decade.

It calls for newly-hired federal workers to make larger contributions to their own pensions, as well as an increase in a federal airport security fee that would add $5 to the cost of a typical round-trip flight.

The annual increase in military retirement benefits for those under age 62 would be slowed.

More savings would come from extending an existing 2% cut in payments to providers who treat Medicare patients.

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Tesco Blames Customers For Fruit And Veg Waste

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

Tesco has accused its customers of contributing to food waste by shunning perfectly edible fruit and vegetables because they are "ugly or misshapen".

A director at the supermarket said it wanted to "educate" shoppers to realise that wonky carrots or marked apples can be "perfectly good food".

Matt Simister, the group food sourcing director at Tesco, said British consumers "always pick the cream of the crop".

"We do have a role to educate people … Our role is to [help people] make the right choices."

The supermarket is considering putting more imperfect fruit and veg on offer, he told the House of Lords EU sub-committee on agriculture.

Tesco's says customers will only pick the best - the rest go to waste

"Customers naturally select, they always pick the cream of crop first and the rest of it then gets left.

"Then the new deliveries come in and you have the new cream of the crop - the old, ugly misshapen goes to waste. Customers will always make the choice of the one that cosmetically looks better. That's a very difficult reality to us."

He added: "We can put more misshapen products through our value range at better prices, we've been doing that for years. There are opportunities to do more."

EU rules on misshapen fruit and veg were relaxed in 2009 but British supermarkets still have private standards that are higher.

Mr Simister said that was because of what "customers tell us they want in perishable produce".

As a result supermarkets often reject misshapen products that are then sent to eastern Europe. There, people facing a financial squeeze will accept less "cosmetically" pleasing options for a lower price, he said.

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Tesco Bank To Offer Current Accounts

Tesco Bank is to start offering current accounts in 2014 as it moves to profit from the misfortunes of its biggest rivals.

The bank, which was founded in 1997, is to create 600 new jobs in Glasgow and Edinburgh over the next few years as it expands its operations from credit cards, personal loans, savings, mortgages and general insurance.

Tesco said the positions were permanent with the majority being full time and instead of incentivising sales, it would offer a competitive basic salary and pension scheme.

Benny Higgins, Chief Executive of Tesco Bank, said: "Since 2008, we have invested to build a bank for Tesco customers.

"We now have more than 6.8 million accounts and offer straightforward, transparent products which reward loyalty and provide great value.

"We are making excellent progress towards the launch of our current account next year and the recruitment of these new roles is an important milestone in that process."

Tesco Bank's decision comes at a tough time for its major rivals while other challenger banks continue to struggle to make an impact against the dominance of RBS, Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays.

The big banks remain under pressure over a host of scandals, including the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). Rate-rigging and other such practices have further damaged the industry's reputation in the wake of the financial crisis.

On Wednesday it was also confirmed that Lloyds Banking Group had been fined £28m for sales incentive schemes which were found to reward staff even though the products they had sold were deemed unsuitable for the customer.

Tesco Bank currently employs 4,000 staff with its operations largely concentrated online and via the phone.

The development was welcomed by the Chancellor George Osborne who tweeted: "Good to see @Tesco entering current account market. More choice is best way to deliver a banking sector that works for customers."

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Twitter: Photos Now In Direct Messages

Twitter users can now send pictures privately to their followers using the direct message (DM) function.

Images previously sent by DM had to be viewed via the external twitpic site, but now users can see them from within the message.

The move is seen as an attempt to broaden the way the service is used and compete with the popularity of messaging services such as WhatsApp and Snapchat.

A new tab in the navigation bar has been introduced to make DMs easier to access.

Writing in a blog post, the company also unveiled other tweaks for their Android and iPhone apps.

For example, the ability to swipe between different sections - such as Home, Activity and Discover, and improved mobile notifications.

Twitter has more than 230 million users and the recently-floated company has a stock market value of nearly $28bn (£17bn).

But despite its popularity, the company has not yet been able to make big money from its user base and is not expected to make a profit until 2016, according to Bloomberg.

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Spending Squeeze: Household Priorities Shift

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Household spending on housing (excluding mortgages), fuel and power has surpassed transport for the first time in recent years, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

We are cutting back most on transport, only spending £64.10 a week in 2012, compared with £67.20 the previous year.

Giles Horsfield, Editor of the Family Spending report, said: "What we can see are some very complex trends on what people chose to spend their money on, and what people feel they have to spend their money on.

"Households have found ways of using less fuel, selecting more fuel efficient cars and cutting out non-essential journeys.

"On some types of discretionary spending, households are spending less but other things buck the trend – like clothing and footwear."

On average we spend £68 a week, including £10.80 on electricity and £10.40 on gas, the ONS revealed in its annual report on the cost of living and food expenditure.

In total, households only spent about a pound more on electricity, gas and other fuels to power homes in 2012 than in 2011, despite growing concern that the 'Big Six' energy companies are hiking prices at inflation-busting rates.

However, the proportion of households renting has risen in recent years, from 29% about a decade ago, to 34% in 2012.

The rise in renting defies the general trend as most types of spending stayed relatively stable or decreased slightly over the period, according to the figures.

The total average household spend was £489 a week in 2012, compared with the pre-recession average spend of £529 a week in 2006.

We are also spending significantly more on clothing and footwear, now about £23.40 a week, compared with £21.90 a year earlier.

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M&S Chairman To Aid Ministers' £20bn Sell-Off

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The chairman of Marks & Spencer (M&S) is being tapped up by ministers to assist with plans to raise £20bn from state-owned asset sales by the end of the decade.

Sky News has learnt that Robert Swannell, a City veteran, is to be named as a director of the Shareholder Executive (ShEx), the body which oversees Government-owned companies such as the Royal Mint and Urenco, the uranium processor.

Mr Swannell's appointment as a non-executive director of ShEx is expected to be announced within days.

The body, which is part of Vince Cable's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), is also poised to appoint a former investment banker from JP Morgan, the firm which told the Government that Royal Mail could be worth nearly £10bn before its privatisation, to its board.

Robin Lawther, who worked in the Wall Street giant's Nordic operations and then its asset management business until this year, will also become a non-executive director of ShEx, insiders said on Wednesday.

The new appointments will come a week after George Osborne, the Chancellor, delivered an autumn statement in which he vowed to accelerate the pace of Government asset sales.

The remaining student loan-book, the Government's stake in Eurostar, the Royal Mint, the Met Office and other bodies are all expected to be prepared for disposal as ministers look to fund huge infrastructure investments in the coming decades.

Mark Russell, the ShEx chief executive, appeared alongside Mr Cable at a BIS select committee hearing last week, during which he defended the price at which the Government had sold 60% of Royal Mail.

In its annual report, published last month, ShEx insisted that it had shown "real strengths" in delivering the Royal Mail flotation.

"In challenging circumstances, and following years of failed attempts to privatise Royal Mail, ShEx delivered a sale of 60% of the shares in Royal Mail to a mix of long-term high-quality institutional investors and almost 700,000 members of the public," it said.

"Nearly £2bn was raised for the Exchequer, and the Government still holds a 30% stake in a company that has, as expected, increased in value following the introduction of private sector ownership."

ShEx will be responsible for supervising the sale of the taxpayer's remaining 30% shareholding in the postal operator.

During presentations to Government officials earlier this year, JP Morgan suggested that the company, which will enter the FTSE-100 index following a quarterly review later on Wednesday, could be worth more than £9.5bn including debt.

M&S and BIS declined to comment, while JP Morgan could not be reached.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602 and Freeview channel 82.

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Heathrow Investor Lines Up UK Airports Deal

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The Spanish infrastructure giant which bought Heathrow Airport in a debt-fuelled deal seven years ago has lodged its interest in acquiring the company's remaining regional UK assets.

Sky News has learnt that Ferrovial has told the board of Heathrow Airport Holdings that it wants to buy Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports.

Heathrow's board, which is chaired by the City veteran Sir Nigel Rudd, is expected to formally consider the approach from Ferrovial during the first quarter of next year.

One of Heathrow's other minority shareholders is also understood to be interested in pursuing a deal, although it is unclear whether this would be in partnership with Ferrovial.

A decision to sell the airports would come amid a crucial Government-commissioned review being led by Sir Howard Davies, the former director of the London School of Economics, who will outline several options for expanding airport capacity in the South East next week.

Sir Howard is expected to narrow the field of options to around a handful, most of which will include a third runway at Heathrow.

With the direction of Sir Howard's thinking becoming clearer, several Heathrow Holdings shareholders and board members are keen to dispose of the three regional airports that are the last remaining remnants of the former BAA's monopoly over the UK's aviation infrastructure.

Sky News revealed last month that Global Infrastructure Partners, the owner of London City, Gatwick and Edinburgh airports is interested in adding Aberdeen to its portfolio.

Ferrovial, which took BAA private in 2006 in a debt-fuelled deal, has steadily reduced its investment in Heathrow in recent years by selling small chunks of shares to sovereign wealth funds in China, Qatar and Singapore.

In October, the Universities Superannuation Scheme, one of the UK's biggest pension fund managers, bought an 8.65% stake in Heathrow's holding company, a move which saw Ferrovial's shareholding lowered to 25%.

Ferrovial is now interested in acquiring Aberdeen, Glasgow or Southampton airports through a separate vehicle, with bankers suggesting that they would collectively command a price-tag of as much as £1.2bn.

Shortly after Ferrovial's takeover of BAA, competition authorities ordered the company to break itself up by selling Stansted, Gatwick and either Glasgow or Edinburgh, the latter of which was offloaded two years ago.

Manchester Airports Group, which now owns Stansted, is also a likely bidder for some of the Heathrow-owned airports, analysts believe.

Heathrow Airport accounts for more than 95% of its parent company's annual profits, making the sale of the other regional assets "inevitable" within the next three years, said one.

A Heathrow Airport Holdings spokesman declined to comment.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Conway's Console: The Recovery Where You Live

The recession is over and the recovery is under way.

Of course, that's welcome news - not just for the Chancellor but for the country as a whole.

But one of the most striking features of this recovery is that, all too often, the national story is quite, quite different to the local one.

Take house prices: they're rocketing in London but they are barely increasing (and sometimes actually falling) in many other parts of the country.

You can tell a similarly divergent story about wages, or the labour market, or indeed broader measures of economic output.

Now, I've tried to tell that story on Sky News whenever possible, but even more striking is when you have a chance to explore the real, divergent story of Britain's economic recovery yourself.

And that's precisely what I've attempted to do with this new console.

As a bit of a data geek, I try to look at as many different measures of how each region is doing - whether on housing affordability, earnings or jobs - but I've always been frustrated that there's no single place which puts them all together.

Well that's precisely the objective of the product we at Sky News have now created. For better or worse, it's called Conway's Console.

Open it up yourself and spend a moment checking it out.

You can look at how your region or local area of the UK compares to the national average on a whole range of different measures.

You can compare one area against another - for instance, just look at the enormous divergence between inner London and parts of the North East on a whole range of measures.

Or go to the "Heat Map" tab on the top left and see how the country looks in terms of house prices, housing affordability, wages or unemployment. See, for instance, which part has grown most in the most recent year. And no, it's not London.

The message I hope you'll get is that this economy, and the recovery, are far more complex and divergent than any single report of ours or others can express. And that divergence is greater in this economic recovery than any other for decades.

:: Watch Sky News on December 5 for live coverage and reaction to the Autumn Statement

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Downing St: US Contract Ban On BP 'Excessive'

The Government has shown its support for BP in a legal dispute over a ban on the oil giant winning federal contracts in the US following the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

In a filing to a court considering BP's attempt to lift the ban, the UK Government said the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the firm from US government contracts "may have been excessive".

Explaining the move, a Downing Street official told the Financial Times the firm was "vital to British jobs and pension funds".

The blow-out of the Deepwater Horizon well off the Louisiana coast in 2010 claimed 11 lives and the resulting oil spill damaged fishing and tourism as well as marine and wildlife habitats, forcing the company to sign a multi-billion dollar compensation deal.

As well as costing the firm $42.5bn (£26bn) BP was hit by the ban on new US government work in November last year because of the way it handled the disaster.

The Downing Street official told the newspaper: "This is a straightforward economic argument.

"BP is vital to British jobs and pension funds: Britain's businesses need certainty to operate and invest."

The source said the Government recognised the seriousness of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, "but it is important that where companies take responsibility, as BP has, they are treated fairly under the law."

In August BP sued the US government over the EPA's move, calling on the US District Court for the southern district of Texas to declare the decision null, void and unenforceable.

The Financial Times reported that the Government has filed an "amicus brief", meaning it is not a party to the case but is showing support for BP, telling the court the EPA's move "may have been excessive", especially the decision to suspend multiple BP entities including some that were not implicated in the accident.

"By creating a process under which any corporate affiliate anywhere in the world can be suspended from transacting business with the government regardless of culpability, EPA risks creating a powerful disincentive to co-operation in times of crisis," it said.

In a separate case, US court on Tuesday suspended payments to American businesses who claimed they suffered damages as a result of the oil leak in the Gulf.

BP argued it has paid out more than $500m (£305m) to companies who have not suffered any harm or direct losses due to the disaster.

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Royal Mail And Union Reach Deal On Pay

A proposed deal has been agreed between the Royal Mail and union leaders on pay, pensions and other issues linked to the privatisation of the postal group.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) had been threatening industrial action in the run up to Christmas but held off calling strikes so talks could be held.

After what were described as "extensive" negotiations, the two sides announced that a proposed agreement had been reached.

A union statement said: "The proposed agreement will now be considered by the union's postal executive over the next few days and will ultimately be subject to a ballot of the union's members.

Staff had backed the prospect of strikes pending the outcome of the talks

"During the ratification process, the industrial action ballot remains valid.

"Details of the proposed agreement will be made available following the conclusion of the meeting of the union's postal executive."

In a statement to the stock market, Royal Mail said an agreement had been made in principle with the CWU on pay, legal protections, industrial stability and pensions.

"Royal Mail and the CWU have agreed that the union's ballot for industrial action remains valid.

"However, the CWU has confirmed that there will be no disruption through industrial action during the ratification process of the proposed agreement, including the whole of the Christmas trading period.

"An announcement on the content of the proposed agreement will be made when it is ratified by the union's executive committee.

"The proposed agreement is also subject to approval by the Royal Mail plc board."

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RBS And Natwest Glitch: Branches Open Early

More than one thousand Natwest and RBS branches opened early on Wednesday to help customers resolve outstanding issues with their accounts after Monday's technical glitch.

All of the high street banks' systems went down for three hours on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, 'Cyber Monday', but while the IT issue was apparently fixed there have been knock-on effects of the outage for customers to contend with.

Some complained of accounts being closed, late payments leaving them overdrawn and problems logging on to online banking services.

There was also concern that phishing attacks aimed to capitalise on the confusion.

The banks' Twitter accounts continue to be bombarded with comments

Sky News was shown one example of an apparent attempt by fraudsters to gain details of a customer's banking information.

In response, RBS said: "We take our customers' security very seriously and we will never ask them to disclose security details or personal information.

"We urge our customers not to click on any links and attachments within suspicious emails and to report a suspicious email to us.

"If a customer thinks their accounts have been accessed online by someone other than themself, they should contact us immediately."

Ross McEwan has promised more investment in the group's IT systems

RBS - which owns the Natwest and Ulster bank brands - opened branches from 08.00am to assist its 15.7 million customers still experiencing problems with their accounts following Monday evening's failure - the third such problem to face the group in 18 months.

The group promised anyone left out of pocket would be compensated - including those who had to check their credit reports to ensure their ratings were unaffected.

The group chief executive Ross McEwan described the latest glitch as "unacceptable" and added: "For decades, RBS failed to invest properly in its systems.

"We need to put our customers' needs at the centre of all we do. It will take time, but we are investing heavily in building IT systems our customers can rely on.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience we caused our customers. We know we have to do better.

"I will be outlining plans in the New Year for making RBS the bank that our customers and the UK need it to be.

"This will include an outline of where we intend to invest for the future."

The bank is still investigating the cause of the glitch, which struck at around 6.30pm.

RBS insisted the problems were "completely unrelated" to high transaction volumes on 'Cyber Monday' and it is understood that hacking has been ruled out also.

RBS and NatWest came under fire in March after a "hardware fault" meant customers were unable to use their online accounts or withdraw cash for several hours.

A major computer issue in June last year saw payments go awry, wages appear to go missing and home purchases and holidays interrupted for several weeks, costing the group £175m in compensation.

Trade union Unite, which represents RBS staff, called on Tuesday for the bank to halt its cost-cutting programme, which has seen thousands of jobs axed and IT functions sent abroad, in the wake of the IT problems.

National officer Dominic Hook said: "It is unacceptable that the bank's customers are once again facing inconvenience. Unite has grave concerns that staffing challenges are exacerbating the problems facing the bank

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Moulton Sizes Up Bid For Ailing Pawnbroker

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The veteran investor Jon Moulton is sizing up a takeover bid for the embattled pawnbroking chain Albemarle & Bond (A&B).

Sky News has learnt that Better Capital, Mr Moulton's investment firm, is among a pack of suitors examining offers for the company after it was forced to put itself up for sale.

Albemarle & Bond has lurched from one crisis to another in recent months, announcing last week that it had resorted to melting its gold reserves to raise cash.

On Monday, it said that five of its board members had resigned, leaving Greville Nicholls, its chairman, as its only non-executive board member.

Albemarle & Bond has been hit hard by the declining gold price and has struggled within its borrowing agreements with its lenders.

Last month, the company said the trading environment had continued to be challenging, "with no signs of recovery in the key trading metrics of pawnbroking advances or gold buying".

"The gold price has seen further weakness and, as of 26 November 2013, is 27% below the average price for March 2013," it said.

If it does proceed with an offer, Better Capital will not be the only bidder for Albemarle & Bond. A number of other specialist distressed investors are circling, although the company warned this week that there was no guarantee that a transaction would result.

Founded in 1983 with a single shop in Bristol, Albemarle & Bond expanded rapidly, to the extent that it had established dozens of pop-up shops to take advantage of demand for its services. In 2011, the company went so far as to declare "the age of the pawnbroker".

Albemarle & Bond has been struggling since the summer when its biggest shareholder, EZCorp, declined to back a £35m rights issue.

City analysts are now split about its survival prospects, having watched its shares dive by 90% this year.

Mr Moulton, whose funds own the parcel delivery company City Link and Jaeger, the fashion brand, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

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Eurostar: Government's 40% Stake Up For Sale

The Government is to sell its 40% stake in Eurostar in a move that could raise up to £10bn as part of a new privatisation project.

The sale is part of a plan to privatise £20bn of financial and corporate assets by 2020, but is likely to spark accusations that the 'family silver' is being sold off.

Speaking to Sky News, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said he thought there was "scope to expand the sale of Government assets".

His comments will prompt speculation that other assets in the Government's £600bn portfolio including the Post Office, the Royal Mint, the Met Office and Channel 4, could be next under the hammer.

The announcement follows the £3.3bn sale of the Royal Mail in October, which left Business Secretary Vince Cable facing allegations the business was undervalued by up to £6bn.

Danny Alexander will announce the plans

The £160m sale of the Government's student loans book to private debt collectors last month led to claims that the public was "subsidising a private company making a profit from pubic debt".

The plan for the Eurostar sell-off is contained in the new national infrastructure plan (NIP) which sets out over £375bn of planned public and private investments to 2030 and beyond.

As part of the announcement it was disclosed that the Government has set a new target for selling off state financial assets from £10bn to £20bn.

Mr Alexander told Sky News: "The principle that would apply is that if there are assets that the Government does not need to own and we can release vital resources that can go to improve infrastructure elsewhere in the country, then that is a good decision to make.

"But of course it would have to be demonstrated to be good value for money for the taxpayer that's a process that would have to be gone through before any final decision would be made."

He added: "We think there is scope to expand the sale of Government assets with the objective of making sure those project are managed effectively in the private sector and we can release funds to build much-needed infrastructure elsewhere."

He stressed that Eurostar would not necessarily be sold this year or next but that it could be sold between now and 2020.

Mr Cameron told Sky News that he found the process for infrastructure development frustrating. He said: "It is frustrating sometimes that we can't do things faster in Britain but we have a planning system, we have democratic accountability for that planning system, we have a need for everyone to have their say and make their point.

"That's very important in the British system.

"I think we can keep that system and that democracy but at the same time accelerate things and make them go faster.

"If you look at what this Government's done in terms of planning policy, decisions are now being taken faster, including on major infrastructure projects."

However, critics will question whether it is sensible to look to sell off the public's stake just as the Eurostar's fortunes seem to have turned a corner.

Sales revenue for the period July-September 2013 reached £207m - a 10% increase on the same period last year - and passenger numbers in summer 2013 rose 5% to 2.7 million.

The new national infrastructure plan will also see a commitment by six major insurers - Legal and General, Prudential, Aviva, Standard Life, Friends Life and Scottish Widows - to invest £25bn over five years in UK infrastructure projects.

The planned infrastructure investment has increased from £309bn last year to more than £375bn, with 291 of the 646 projects and programmes already under construction.

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Leslie said: "Scheme after scheme has been announced to great fanfare, but then little actually delivered.

"Yet another announcement from ministers about possible future investment will do little to reassure business that warm words will finally translate into diggers in the ground."

Other measures being announced include:

:: The scrapping of plans to create the UK's first toll road for a decade. Motorists will not be charged to use the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon once the improvement scheme, due to start in 2016, is completed.

:: A further £50m will be allocated to redevelop the railway station at Gatwick Airport.

:: A Government guarantee could support finance for the development of a new nuclear power station at Wylfa on Anglesey.

:: The £1bn Northern Line extension to Battersea in southwest London will also be guaranteed by the Government.

:: Watch live coverage of the Autumn Statement throughout Thursday on Sky News HD

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