The childish bickering between the Tory and Labour Treasury teams continues. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls and his advisor Alex Belardinelli were jumping up and down with delight after the OECD's chief economist, Pier Carlo Padoan, said the Government's deficit-busting plans may need to be watered down... more
London law firm that produced Margaret Mountford — one of Britain’s best known women solicitors and Alan Sugar’s former aide on The Apprentice — has fallen to the bottom of the City’s equality league table... more
Three of London’s best-known and most upmarket hotels — the Berkeley, Claridge’s and the Connaught — could soon end up being controlled by the Irish taxpayer... more
One of the Government’s leading City advisers today painted a bleak picture of the UK economy and launched a scathing attack on the Bank of England... more
A friend of mine who is something of an internet guru once pitched for a job to revamp a well-known company's website. Later, the managing director sought me out. "Your pal was superb." Then he frowned. "But we can't hire him"... more
UK Financial Investments, the quango set up to look after taxpayer stakes in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scoltand, is clearly unhappy about the amount of media attention it is attracting ... more
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott says he was “staggered” to find out Slaughter and May cost the Treasury £22 million last year for legal advice on the credit crunch... more
So what's got into Mervyn King? Months of fuming and frustration at the posturing and point-scoring by politicians finally seem to have got the better of the Bank of England Governor - hence, at last, he has spoken his mind. He can do so in the knowledge his position is nigh impregnable.... more
Legal: The credit crunch looks set to hit the City law firms hard after Clifford Chance, the biggest law firm in London — and the world — admitted it had ordered a cash call of £100,000 per partner, and is laying off 80 solicitors... more
Which of our High Street banks has for the most part ridden out the financial crisis? Yep, HSBC, the bank that rode roughshod all over corporate governance rules by successively appointing their chief executives to be chairman... more
Prosecco not champagne. God forbid, Twiglets instead of caviar. The years of excess are over a grim, new age has taken hold. Don't believe me? You still think Nicky Haslam's £200,000 bash last Thursday was typical? You're wrong... more
NOW a peace of sorts seems to have broken out between BP and its Russian partners, the talk has turned in Moscow to which Western business partner might next fall foul of the combined business-state machine... more
Legal analysis: James Baxter, editor of Legal Business magazine, sees dark clouds on the horizon, with most law firms expecting to show a drop in profits this year after a decade of rapid growth... more
Exclusive: After high-profile allegations this season, Charlton's manager is pleased the issue is now being addressed but says the authorities still have plenty of work to do
Morning:
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