A £1.2 billion contract has been awarded to build the Royal Navy's new hunter-killer submarine HMS Audacious.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) also announced that a further £1.5 billion has been committed to the remaining three submarines in the class.

The £1.2 billion contract with BAE Systems will safeguard 3,000 skilled jobs at Barrow in Cumbria.

Audacious is the fourth of seven Astute Class submarines being built for the Royal Navy. They are the most technologically advanced the Royal Navy has ever sent to sea and will progressively replace the Trafalgar Class currently in service.

The first two boats, Astute and Ambush, are currently undergoing sea trials to rigorously test their systems. The third boat, Artful, is reaching the final stages of her construction at Barrow shipyard. Early work has been started on boat five, named Anson, while preparation has begun on as yet unnamed boats six and seven.

Last month it emerged that Astute encountered a flooding problem during sea trials, forcing the nuclear-powered attack vessel to resurface after it let in tens of litres of water. Electrical switchboards were also found to be fitted incorrectly while concerns emerged about the accuracy of nuclear reactor monitoring instruments during testing last year.

Published: 10 December 2012

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Violence which erupted in Belfast after a controversial vote on the Union flag was unacceptable, Northern Ireland's First Minister has warned.

Five police officers, two security workers and a press photographer were injured when a mob of up to 1,000 loyalists rioted in the city centre and parts of east Belfast.

At the height of the trouble, police officers were pelted with bricks, bottles and fireworks and a large crowd tried to smash their way into City Hall. They broke through barriers and forced their way through iron gates at the rear of the building before assaulting council security staff and attacking cars.

First Minister Peter Robinson said: "There is no excuse or justification for attacks on police officers, council staff, and property. Such behaviour is not representative of those who campaigned to maintain the Union flag flying over Belfast City Hall."

At one point, loyalists, who used scarves to hide their identity, also tried to kick down the back door to gain entry to City Hall.

The DUP leader said the proposal to change the council's flag-flying policy was provocative.

He added: "The decision to pursue the removal of the flag from City Hall and other council buildings, despite warnings of the likely consequential impact on community relations, was foolish and provocative. Those who talk most about building community relations have by their actions in the council substantially damaged relations across the city."

Published: 04 December 2012

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Coffee giant Starbucks has said it is looking at its "tax approach" in the UK after coming under fire for paying no corporation tax in the country in the last three years.

The US coffee firm - valued at £25 billion - has generated more than £3 billion of sales in the UK since 1998 but it emerged in October it has paid less than 1% in corporation tax.

Starbucks, which has more than 700 outlets in the UK, said it was "committed to the UK for the long term" and added: "We are looking at our tax approach in the UK. The company has been in discussions with HMRC for some time and is also in talks with the Treasury." The company said it would release further details of its UK tax plans this week.

The group reportedly paid just £8.6 million in corporation tax in the UK in the last 14 years.

Its nearest UK rival, Costa, owned by Whitbread, recorded £377 million sales last year, compared with Starbucks' £398 million, but its tax bill came to £15 million, or 31% of its profits.

Starbucks previously said it paid its "fair share of taxes" in full compliance with UK law and no authority had suggested otherwise.

A four-month investigation by news agency Reuters discovered that Starbucks was able to cut income tax by paying fees to other parts of its global business, such as royalty payments for use of the brand.

This means Starbucks UK is effectively making a loss and therefore does not have to pay any corporation tax. As a result, it has not broken any law. The most recent results, posted for 2011, show Starbucks UK recorded a loss of £33 million.

A Starbucks spokesperson said: "Starbucks is committed to the UK for the long term and we have invested more than £200 million in our UK business over the past 12 years. Starbucks has complied with all the tax laws in this country but has regretfully not been as profitable as we would have liked.

Published: 02 December 2012

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The Government will give a new regulator the explicit power to cap the interest rates charged by payday lenders, Treasury minister Lord Sassoon has announced.

Lord Sassoon's concession came in the face of an amendment put forward by Labour and backed by the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury.

The minister told peers: "We need to ensure that the Financial Conduct Authority grasps the nettle when it comes to payday lending and has specific powers to impose a cap on the cost of credit and ensure that the loan cannot be rolled over indefinitely should it decide, having considered the evidence, that this is the right solution."

His announcement came at report stage of the Financial Services Bill after shadow business minister Lord Mitchell said some payday lenders were charging annual interest rates of 4,000% on short-term loans.

The Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Justin Welby, who will take over as Archbishop of Canterbury next year, said the rates being charged were "clearly usurious".

Lord Sassoon said if Lord Mitchell withdrew his amendment, he would bring forward a Government change to the legislation when the Bill has its third reading next week. He said the Government had always been clear that the FCA "should be able to take action to address the problems that are rife in the payday loans sector".

The Treasury insisted the Bill as currently drafted would give the FCA the power to cap rates, but Lord Sassoon said he wanted to embed "stronger payday loan regulation in primary legislation".

Published: 28 November 2012

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Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez will face the wrath of his new club's fans for the second time in four days on Wednesday when they tackle London rivals Fulham in the Premier League.

The former Liverpool coach was roundly booed during Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Manchester City in his first game at the helm on Sunday and supporter groups have pledged to repeat their protests when Fulham come to Stamford Bridge.

Benitez has not been forgiven for his tenure at Liverpool, but he has repeatedly dismissed concerns about the animosity directed towards him by his new club's supporters.

"I was asking, 'What were they singing?'" he admitted after the City game.

"I don't care. I'm just focused on the game."

When informed what some of the fans had chanted, Benitez said it was to be expected after the barrage of questions he received from journalists when he was presented to the media last week.

"It was a surprise for you after the other day?" he asked reporters.

"Some of the fans will realise it's not the way to support their team."

Sunday's draw with City, in the first match since Roberto Di Matteo was sacked as coach, left the European champions five points below leaders Manchester United in fifth place.

Chelsea have now gone five games without a league win, but Fulham's form has been scarcely better, with Saturday's 1-0 loss at Stoke City extending their own run of matches without victory to five as well.

The stalemate at the Bridge was only the second time in 31 matches that City have failed to score, but the defending champions will expect to fare better in front of goal at Wigan Athletic on Wednesday.

Wigan have the fourth most porous defence in the top flight and although they showed impressive resolve to beat Reading 3-2 on Saturday, City's forwards will view the trip to the DW Stadium as a good opportunity to get back on track.

With United just a point above City in the standings, midfielder James Milner has urged his teammates to show more killer instinct in front of goal.

"We have got things to work on," Milner told City TV.

Published: 28 November 2012

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Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King has admitted policymakers should have cut growth forecasts sooner.

Discussing the Bank's latest quarterly inflation report, the Governor told MPs the Bank had "inadvertently given too much weight" to optimistic growth forecasts.

Sir Mervyn said there was little chance of rapid growth in 2013 or 2014, adding it "may be unreasonable to expect anything other than a slow and protracted recovery".

In an apparent endorsement of the decision to appoint Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney as his successor, he told the Treasury Select Committee he was "completely confident" the central bank would be left in "very good hands".

The Bank warned in its inflation report earlier this month that economic growth would remain below pre-financial crisis levels for at least the next three years.

Taking the shine off a recent return to growth between July and September, Sir Mervyn said output could shrink again in the final three months of the year. And the governor braced households for an "unappealing combination" of sluggish growth and above-target inflation.

The Bank downgraded its growth forecast for next year to around 1% and warned that output will remain below its historical average until mid-2015.

Published: 27 November 2012

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Building society Nationwide has said its mortgage lending soared to a four-year high as the Bank of England's £80 billion scheme helped reduce rates for borrowers.

Nationwide reported a 15% hike in gross mortgage lending to £10.2 billion in the six months to September 30, with loans to first-time buyers nearly doubling.

But the mutual revealed its half-year underlying pre-tax profits fell 17% to £151 million after it put by a further £45 million to settle claims relating to mis-selling of controversial payment protection insurance (PPI).

The further PPI provision has taken the total amount set aside by Nationwide to £173 million. The society also said profits were hit as it suffered losses of £193 million on pre-credit crunch lending to the commercial property sector, compared with £72 million in loan losses last year.

Its lending figures will make for encouraging reading at the Bank of England, which jointly launched the Funding for Lending scheme with the Treasury earlier this year in an attempt to help ease the flow of credit to mortgage and business borrowers.

Nationwide said net mortgage lending - which strips out loan redemptions and repayments - more than doubled in the first half, up from £1.4 billion to £3.2 billion, with almost a third of its lending in the first half to customers buying their first home.

Published: 27 November 2012

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A Tory campaign chief has called for an electoral pact with Ukip, warning David Cameron that the party could lose out in many marginal seats at the next general election without the promise of an in/out referendum on EU membership.

MP Michael Fabricant, a party vice chairman in charge of parliamentary campaigning, said it was "time to actively consider whether a rapprochement might be possible" to counter a rising tide of Eurosceptic public opinion.

In a starkly-expressed report to the Prime Minister, he concluded: "These steps have to be taken to stop the continued haemorrhage of Conservative votes."

Ukip leader Nigel Farage retorted that there could be "no deals with the Tories: it's war", blaming the Prime Minister's previous claims that the party was one of "closet racists".

"Cameron's comments over the Rotherham case mean a deal's simply not possible," he told Mr Fabricant on Twitter amid the controversy over children being removed from foster parents in the South Yorkshire town because of their Ukip membership.

Mr Cameron is resisting growing backbench demands for a straightforward referendum on whether Britain should remain a member of the European Union (EU). He has signalled his readiness to hold a referendum on the EU but is opposed to an in/out alternative and was boosted yesterday by London Mayor Boris Johnson supporting that stance.

But Mr Fabricant said the idea must be considered because Ukip had become "a significant contributory factor in costing the Conservative Party victories in marginal seats", adding: "It is time to consider actively whether a rapprochement might be possible before the 2015 General Election.The basis of any deal is clear: a referendum on the United Kingdom's future membership of the European Union."

Published: 26 November 2012

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Rain-battered Britain is bracing itself for more flooding chaos after forecasters predicted worsening weather conditions across the country.

It will compound misery for those in areas already suffering from severe floods following the downpours earlier this week, which forced hundreds to evacuate their homes and killed a driver. Up to 40mm of rain is expected to fall in some areas by Sunday morning, with winds measuring 70mph on the south coast and 60mph as far inland as London and the East Midlands.

Some 44 flood warnings and 153 flood alerts are in place, with more likely to be issued throughout the weekend, the Environment Agency (EA) said. River flooding is likely with the possibility of significant disruption, particularly across Devon, North Somerset, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Wales, the EA said.

Nearly 400 properties have been flooded since Tuesday, while 9,000 homeowners have been told they are at risk of flooding, it added.

An EA statement said emergency teams had been working through the night and morning to shore up defences, deploy temporary barriers, monitor river levels, clear blockages from watercourses and pump out flood water from towns. EA flood defences have protected 21,800 properties across England and Wales, including in Cheltenham, Teignmouth and Weston-Super-Mare.

Brendan Jones, senior meteorologist at MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said the stormy weather could continue into early next week: "Rainfall amounts will increase rapidly through the rest of today and into tonight with as much as 30-40mm of rain expected in some areas. As well as the heavy rain, strong winds are still expected with southern and eastern parts of England worst affected. The winds are likely to be at their peak between midnight tonight and midday tomorrow, gradually shifting from the south coast of England to parts of East Anglia during this time.

"Whilst the heavy rain and strong winds will gradually edge away to the east tomorrow, another autumn storm will fire yet more rain and strong winds from the west across much of England and Wales during Sunday evening and overnight, into Monday morning. The winds will not be as strong within this second system but rainfall will be high once again. Further significant flooding is quite likely where ground is already saturated, particularly across Wales and western parts of England which have already been badly hit over the last few days."

Published: 24 November 2012

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The report from the first part of the Leveson Inquiry into press standards is to be released next Thursday.

David Cameron set up the inquiry in July last year in response to revelations that the News of the World commissioned a private detective to hack murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone after she disappeared in 2002.

The first part, which started in September last year, looked at the culture, practices and ethics of the press in general and its final report will be published on November 29, the inquiry announced.

Inquiry chairman Lord Justice Leveson will publish the report, which is expected to include recommendations for the future regulation of the British press, at 1.30pm next Thursday, followed by an "on-camera statement".

The report will be laid in both Houses of Parliament, the inquiry said, and will be available on its website once it has been laid in Parliament. Prime Minister David Cameron will make a Commons statement on the Leveson Inquiry after it reports, Leader of the House Andrew Lansley told MPs.

Lord Justice Leveson and his panel of advisers heard months of evidence - some explosive - from key figures including celebrities, lawyers, politicians and journalists. The final report will reveal his recommendations for the future regulation of the British press.

Published: 22 November 2012

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