Home Ownership '£1,440 Cheaper' Than Renting

The cost of buying a home has become £1,440 a year cheaper than renting, according to new research.

Halifax found the average monthly costs associated with buying a three-bedroomed house stood at £621 in December, which is £120 cheaper than the typical monthly rent of £741 on a similar property.

The latest figures are an about-turn from December 2008, when buying a home was £217 a month more expensive than renting.

In recent years the gap has widened amid house price falls and record low interest rates which have made borrowing cheaper for those who can get access to a mortgage.

Meanwhile, increased demand in the rental sector from those struggling to raise a deposit or meet lenders' borrowing criteria has pushed up rental costs.

Home buying costs have declined by one third (34%) over the past four years, while average monthly rents have been pushed up by 14%, the study found.

The gap between buying and renting has widened by £21 a month over the past year. At the end of 2011, the monthly cost of home buying was £99 lower than renting.

Buying was found to be more affordable than renting in every UK region.

Buying is most affordable compared with renting in London, where the monthly difference is £193, while in Yorkshire and the Humber buying is just £1 a month cheaper than renting, Halifax found.

Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said that while the "financial attractiveness" of buying a home has improved in recent years, the tough economy is still holding would-be home buyers back.

He said: "Concerns over job security and raising a deposit are the main obstacles to people buying their own home. However, it is worth noting that once home buyers are on the first rung of the ladder, their monthly costs are notably lower."

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Horsemeat: Farmers In 'Buy British' Campaign

By Clare Fallon, Sky News Reporter

Farmers are hitting back after the horsemeat scandal with a new campaign urging consumers to 'Buy British'.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has taken out adverts in 10 national newspapers, saying it is championing British produce as a direct response to the contamination and mislabelling of some beef products.

According to NFU President, Peter Kendall, British farmers feel let down.

"Farmers are very proud of what they produce and are, quite rightly, furious about this current situation. They feel let down by what looks like a criminal element in an isolated part of the food chain," he said.

The advertising campaign comes after the Food Standards Authority (FSA) raided the premises of more British companies.

Two sites in Tottenham, North London and one in Hull in Yorkshire were searched by FSA officials, who removed computer equipment and took away meat samples to be analysed.

One of the businesses being investigated is Dinos & Sons Continental Foods.

The company released a statement saying it is co-operating with officials, adding: "At no time has Dinos & Sons produced or manufactured anything that is under investigation or is the subject of any possible contamination or mislabelling."

The raids came as three men who were arrested on Thursday remain in police custody on suspicion of offences under the Fraud Act.

Dafydd Raw-Rees, 64, the owner of Farmbox Meats near Aberystwyth, and a 42-year-old man were arrested in Wales.

A 63-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of the same offence at Peter Boddy Slaughterhouse in Todmorden, West Yorkshire.

Both plants were inspected on Tuesday by the FSA.

After test results revealed around 1% of products checked contained a significant amount of horse meat, Environment Secretary Owen Patterson insisted he wants all other tests to be completed by the end of next week.

"It's up to the food businesses to carry out the tests, to organise their businesses and to provide quality products," Mr Patterson told Sky News.

The problem has gone beyond supermarket bought burgers and lasagnes - hotels, restaurants and pubs have also been affected after confirmation from Whitbread, which owns Premier Inn, Beefeater Grill and Brewers Fayre, that horse DNA has been found in its food.

Cottage pie served to children at 47 schools in Lancashire has also tested positive and has now been removed from menus.

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Osborne Plays Down Talk Of RBS Share Giveaway

By Katie Stallard, Moscow correspondent

George Osborne has played down claims the Treasury is planning to give Britons up to £400 in Royal Bank of Scotland shares before the next election.

The Chancellor, speaking to Sky News at a G20 meeting in Moscow, said it was too early to consider handing out shares and returning the bailed out bank to the private sector.

His intervention came after reports that Economic Secretary to the Treasury Sajid Javid was exploring plans to sell the Government's stake by 2015.

The Chancellor insisted a sell-off could not happen soon because it would mean a huge loss to the taxpayer, but he notably did not rule out such a move.

Mr Osborne said: "It is just a premature discussion about what to do with the shares when we get to the point where they are worth what the country paid for them.

"Gordon Brown bought them at a price that they are not worth today and we have got to get the Royal Bank of Scotland to a point where it is worth what the taxpayer paid.

"Then we can have a no doubt big national discussion about what to do with the shares and how to return it to the private sector."

Royal Bank of Scotland is 82% state-owned after a £45bn bailout

RBS was bailed out with £45bn in public funds in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis and is now 82% owned by the state.

In Moscow for the finance ministers' meeting, Mr Osborne also renewed his call for a global tax crackdown and issued a warning about international "currency wars".

There is increasing concern about competitive devaluations between major exporting economies as they struggle to recover from the global downturn.

Japan has been criticised for weakening the Yen, which is down 15% against the dollar since September, to give its exporters a price advantage in the short term.

"These so-called currency wars are what in previous decades have led to huge problems in the international economy," the Chancellor said.

"I think people will be pleasantly surprised by the strong statement that you'll see from the G20 today that currency is not a tool of economic warfare.

"What we want to do in our own countries is put our own houses in order and make our economies competitive and our currencies will reflect that rather than being used as a weapon to achieve it."

On tax, Mr Osborne said current rules are out of date and that Britain would lead efforts to stop companies shifting their profits around the globe to avoid large bills.

"The international rules on taxes haven't kept pace with changes in the world economy, changes in the way we shop online and use the internet so we're taking action with countries like France, Germany, and the United States," he said.

"Britain is leading the way in getting a set of rules that mean that businesses can come to Britain, and Britain is one of the best places to do business, but also when they come to Britain  - they pay their taxes.

"It means that big international companies that may have their headquarters in one country, their shops in many other countries, may locate their so-called intellectual property in another country altogether, perhaps a low tax place like Bermuda or the Cayman Islands.

"They'll find that a more difficult arrangement because the international tax rules will change and they will have to pay taxes much more where the profits are generated - that's the objective."

But he acknowledged  that Britain could not act alone and that they needed global consensus to make it happen.

Just getting agreement on the need for a crackdown from the 20 countries represented in Moscow on Saturday would represent significant progress in itself.

Mr Osborne said: "There is no single law Britain can pass that will make this happen.

"This has to be done internationally and so we are working with other countries to make sure it does happen and that the tax laws which were actually created about a 100 years ago are appropriate for an economy of the 21st century rather than the 20th century."

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Meat Scandal: Call For EU Tests On Beef

One in five people have changed the way they shop as a result of the widening meat scandal, according to a poll carried out by YouGov for Sky News.

Of those who are buying differently, 58% said they had completely abandoned processed meats.

A third of the nearly 2,000 people surveyed said they had stopped buying cheap ranges and now favour more expensive processed meat.

As for who they blamed most, nearly half - 49% - said meat processors were most at fault, while one in five said food manufacturers carried responsibility.

But supermarkets seem to be largely off the hook, with only 10% of people saying they are to blame and even fewer pointing the finger at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) or the Government.

One shopper told Sky's Tom Parmenter she now refuses to buy processed ready meals for her two children.

Sharon Cummins, from Slough, said: "It is affecting everybody because it is all just lies.

"The thought of eating something like a horse - it is there, that picture is in your head: What am I eating?

"You just don't know, it could be school dinners next."

Police and FSA officials raided the Farmbox Meats site in northwest Wales

EU nations have now been urged to begin widespread DNA testing to check processed beef products for contamination with horsemeat.

There should also be tests for the presence of the veterinary painkiller known as "bute", which causes cancer in humans and is banned from the food chain, European health commissioner Tonio Borg said.

The problem was being treated as a fraud issue rather than one of food safety, he said.

Earlier British Environment Secretary Owen Paterson, who attended a summit in Brussels on the scandal, warned those guilty of passing off horsemeat as more expensive beef would face the "full force of the law".

Two British firms have been shut down following raids by the FSA and police. They swooped on Peter Boddy slaughterhouse in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, and meat processing plant Farmbox Meats in Llandre near Aberystwyth, west Wales as part of an audit.

The companies had records seized and have been temporarily closed. The firms' owners deny any wrongdoing.

At Farmbox, Sky News saw large crates of meat - some covered by tarpaulin and others open - left in outdoor areas during Tuesday night, before they were removed.

Until now, meat linked to the scandal had been thought to have come from suppliers in continental Europe, but for the first time it appears the contamination may also come from British premises.

David Cameron described the situation as "appalling" and "completely unacceptable".

Meanwhile, Waitrose announced it has withdrawn its beef Essential British Frozen Meatballs after pork was found in two batches. The supermarket said they were made at the ABP Foods-owned Freshlink factory in Glasgow last summer.

Tesco has become the latest retailer to drop a major supplier after discovering a range of spaghetti bolognese ready meals contained more than 60% horsemeat.

Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips has told Sky's Jeff Randall the chain could not be 100% sure about the content of all of its beef products, but he said its checks are rigorous and it has "extremely high" confidence.

While supermarkets rush to reassure shoppers, independent butchers have been reporting a significant surge in business.

The Butchers Q Guild has reported a 30% spike in sales of products such as burgers and sausages.

The meat scandal erupted last month after tests in Ireland showed products labelled as beef contained up to 100% horsemeat.

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American Airlines To Merge With US Airways

American Airlines and US Airways are preparing to confirm a merger to create the world's biggest airline.

It is understood the deal would help secure loss-making American's future, 15 months after it entered bankruptcy protection.

The new carrier would reportedly keep the American Airlines name but would be run by US Airways chief executive Doug Parker.

American's CEO, Tom Horton, would serve as chairman.

Sources said the deal had been under discussion since August last year when creditors pushed for merger talks so they could decide which earned them a better return: a merger or Mr Horton's plan for an independent airline.

American has been restructuring under the bankruptcy protection and the agreement would apparently mean that its creditors and possibly its shareholders will own 72% of the stock, with US Airways Group securing the rest.

If the deal is approved by American's bankruptcy judge and competition regulators, the new American will have more than 900 planes, 3,200 daily flights and about 95,000 employees, not counting regional affiliates.

It would also mean that American, United, Delta and Southwest would control about three-quarters of US airline traffic - a situation that worries passenger groups and may concern competition regulators.

Charles Leocha of the Consumer Travel Alliance said that with just four big airlines instead of five, it would be easier to raise fares.

"The benefits of this deal will go only to the corporations, not to consumers," he said.

Just five years ago, American was the world's biggest airline but years of heavy losses - totalling almost $15bn (£9.6bn) since 2001 - drove it into bankruptcy protection.

The company blamed bloated labour costs but its unions accused executives of mismanagement.

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Rolls-Royce's Profit Boosted By Strong Orders

Strong growth at Rolls-Royce's civil aerospace unit has helped it report a rise in profit for 2012.

The engine-maker also confirmed BP director Ian Davis as its new chairman - as revealed by Sky News' City Editor on Wednesday.

Mr Davis, a former partner at management consultancy McKinsey, replaces Sir Simon Robertson as head of the company's board.

Rolls-Royce said underlying pre-tax profit was up 24% at £1.4bn in 2012 - an increase for the tenth year in a row.

The company, which is the world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines after the US' General Electric, saw an 8% increase in revenue to £12.2bn.

Its order book increased by 4% over the year boosted by £10.3bn of new civil aerospace orders, as demand soared for the company's more fuel-efficient engines.

In a statement chief executive, John Rishton, said: "The strength of our order book demonstrates the confidence our customers have in our products and services.

"In 2013, we expect modest growth in underlying revenue and good growth in underlying profit with cash flow around break even as we continue to invest for the future."

There were fears Rolls-Royce would be affected by the global grounding of Boeing's Dreamliner, after the aircraft was hit by a string of technical issues.

But Mr Rishton said he was "confident" Boeing would sort out the problem and insisted his company had not been impacted by the situation.

Rolls-Royce manufactures the Trent 1000 engine which powers the Dreamliner planes.

The results come after months of uncertainty about the company and its leadership following corruption allegations relating to payments made by its subsidiaries overseas.

Rolls-Royce said it had passed information to the Serious Fraud Office following a request for information about allegations of malpractice in Indonesia and China.

It said it had "significantly strengthened" its compliance procedures in recent years, and added: "As a further measure, we have appointed Lord Gold to lead a review of current procedures and report to the ethics committee of the board."

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Horsemeat Scandal: UK Slaughterhouse Raided

The Food Standards Agency has raided a slaughterhouse allegedly involved in supplying horsemeat labelled as beef.

The FSA has shut down Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, while it investigates allegations that it supplied horse carcasses to a meat business in Wales.

Officers from West Yorkshire and Dyfed-Powys police accompanied the FSA as they seized meat and paperwork from the Yorkshire abattoir and Farmbox Meats Ltd in Llandre, Aberystwyth.

The FSA and police are looking into the circumstances through which meat products, purporting to be beef for kebabs and burgers, were sold, which were in fact horse.

The FSA has suspended operations at both sites while it investigates the first suspected instance of a UK abattoir passing off horsemeat as beef.

Meanwhile, Waitrose has announced it is clearing the shelves of its Essential British Frozen Beef Meatballs after pork was detected in tests on two batches.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said he expects tough action to be taken against any business that has broken the law.

He said: "This is absolutely shocking. It's totally unacceptable if any business in the UK is defrauding the public by passing off horsemeat as beef.

"I expect the full force of the law to be brought down on anyone involved in this kind of activity."

Slaughterhouse owner Peter Boddy, who denied that the FSA visit amounted to a "raid", told Sky News: "I have not been supplying meat to Farmbox. I don't know who they are."

Farmbox Meats Ltd has also denied any wrongdoing.

In an interview with Sky News, FSA Director of Operations Andrew Rhodes said: "We acted on excellent evidence, which includes the traceability of where products go from one location to another.

"I'm very confident that the information we have used and what we have obtained is evidence that something has happened which should not have been."

The raids came after a respected food scientist warned that lamb ready meals and other products may contain horsemeat and should be tested.

Mr Paterson today met representatives of supermarkets and food suppliers to discuss the growing scandal of horse meat mislabelled as beef.

Joining officials from the Food Standards Agency, he talked to the Institute of Grocery Distribution, which represents food retailers and suppliers, to discuss plans for a new regime of quarterly testing of products.

Results of tests into the extent of contamination of beef products are expected on Friday.

The Environment Secretary will travel to Brussels tomorrow to discuss the scandal with counterparts in EU countries.

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UK To Avoid Triple-Dip Recession, Says CBI

Despite cutting its growth forecast for this year, the Confederation of British Industry has said it believes the UK is in the clear when it comes to a triple-dip recession.

However, the leading business body expects the UK economy will grow 1% in 2013, less than its previous estimate of 1.4%.

It warned of the potential for a new "flare-up" in eurozone tensions, which would hold back confidence and keep growth in check.

But a rise in job vacancies and an improvement in business sentiment since its last forecast suggested the economy would avoid another recession and grow 0.3% in the first quarter of this year.

CBI director-general John Cridland said: "We are beginning to see the return of organic growth, with clear signs that firms offering the right products into the right markets are growing sales and expanding.

"Recent business surveys also give grounds for cautious optimism about our forward prospects."

The CBI predicts that UK exports will be stronger this year.

Hopes that Britain will avoid another recession have also been boosted by recent surveys which showed the services sector returned to growth and manufacturing output rose at its fastest pace since September 2011, in January.

The CBI is forecasting that inflation will edge higher until mid-2013, but will fall back in the second half of the year, and will be close to the Bank of England's 2% target throughout 2014.

On another positive note, it said UK exports will be stronger this year, with the global economy likely to grow faster as growth in China picks up and the US economy continues its "relatively solid, if unspectacular recovery".

But conditions will still be difficult for households in 2013, given weak growth in household spending power and unemployment at around 7.8%.

It believes unemployment levels are unlikely to change significantly over the forecast period, at 2.5 and 2.42 million in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Next year, the CBI is expecting growth of 2%, unchanged from its November forecast, whilst quarter-on-quarter growth is expected to be modest at around 0.5-0.6%.

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Peugeot Citroen Hit By Record £4.29bn Loss

Embattled French car firm Peugeot Citroen has made a loss of 5bn euros (£4.29bn) for 2012, the worst result in its history.

But France's number one automaker said it had built the foundations for recovery after cleaning up its balance sheet and implementing a tough restructuring plan.

Peugeot blamed the results on a previously announced 4.7bn euro (£4bn) asset writedown last year and the crisis in the European car market.

The loss compared with a profit of 588mn euros (£505m) in 2011, while revenue for the year fell 5.2% to 55.4bn (£47.6bn) euros.

The results "reflect the deterioration of the automotive industry environment in Europe," chief executive Philippe Varin said in a statement.

But he added: "The foundations for our rebound have been laid."

According to What Car? editor-in-chief Chas Hallet, the firm suffers from combination of problems.

"Peugeot Citroen is losing out in several ways. For a start its models mainly compete with each other which makes little sense," Mr Hallet told Sky News.

"It is being undercut on price and quality by rivals, including the incredibly strong Korean makers. And unlike many of its rivals it does not sell cars globally and so take advantage of the scale that provides."

"Furthermore, it can't really compete with the might of the VW group - in Europe or anywhere else."

The results were worse than forecast by analysts and overshadowed the previous record loss of 1.2bn euros (£1bn) in 2009.

Net debt stood at 3bn euros (£2.5bn), the company said.

On Monday, the European Commission authorised France to temporarily to shore up Peugeot to the tune of a six-month 1.2bn euro guarantee.

Peugeot Citroen, which has a strategic tie-up with General Motors (GM) of the United States - itself bailed-out by the Obama administration - is in the midst of a restructuring involving deep job cuts.

Markets reacted positively to the balance sheet announcement, with shares up 5% in early trading.

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Business Optimism At All-Time Low - Survey

An index which predicts British business optimism has fallen to its lowest level since the report began 21 years ago, prompting fears of a 'triple-dip' recession occurring.

BDO's Optimism Index, which predicts business performance two quarters ahead, fell to 88.9 in January from a reading of 90.3 in December.

It is the eighth consecutive month that the Index has remained below 95.0, the mark which indicates growth.

This suggests the economy will struggle to grow in the first quarter of 2013, following the recently announced negative growth of Q4 2012.

As a result, there is an increased risk of a triple-dip recession taking hold.

Meanwhile the report's Output Index, which predicts short-run turnover expectations, also supports this, falling from 93.1 to 92.3 last month, further away from the 95.0 mark indicating growth.

BDO LLP partner Peter Hemington said: "In spite of a strengthening labour market, business confidence continues to weaken, and improved hiring intentions are not translating into growth plans.

"It seems the damaging effects on businesses of five years' zigzagging economic growth has left them wary of making concrete plans for expansion and resigned to the 'new normal' of economic stagnation."

However its complementary Employment Index rose to 95.1 in January from 93.0 in December, taking the Index above the 95.0 mark that indicates employment growth.

Last Friday the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, along with KPMG, released a report revealing a salary spike trend based on employers struggling to find enough qualified staff.

The BDO index has also showed hopeful signs amongst the UK's manufacturing sector of possible recovery.

But the report's author warned that coalition policy needs to drive greater economic expansion.

Mr Hemington said: "To end this cycle, it is imperative that the Government implements plans to expedite growth.

"Without growth incentives, we will continue to see UK businesses reluctant to invest and expand, which poses a grave threat to the UK's economic recovery."

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Tech Giants Ordered To Explain 'High Prices'

Three American tech giants have been told to appear before an Australian parliamentary inquiry to explain their "high prices".

The demand for Apple, Microsoft and Adobe comes as MPs seek to understand why local consumers pay so much for their products, despite the strong Australian dollar.

Apple's inclusion broadens a row between the world's most valuable IT company and Australian politicians over corporate taxes paid on Apple's operations.

Apple executives were formally informed on Monday and told to appear in front a parliamentary committee in the capital, Canberra, on March 22.

The inquiry increases international pressure on US multinational, and follows on from bosses of Amazon, Starbucks and Google being quizzed by MPs in London over corporate tax avoidance structures.

"In what's probably the first time anywhere in the world, these IT firms are now being summonsed by the Australian parliament to explain why they price their products so much higher in Australia compared to the United States," the ruling Labor government MP Ed Husic, who helped set up the committee, said.

High local prices and soaring cost-of-living bills for basic services are hurting the popularity of the minority Labor government ahead of a September 14 election.

The Labor party is widely tipped to lose, giving political momentum to the inquiry.

All three companies have so far declined to appear before the special committee set up in May last year to investigate possible price gouging on Australian hardware and software buyers.

The Australian dollar is currently above parity with the US currency, at around A$1.03.

The currency has also strengthened significantly against the Pound, with £1 only buying A$1.53. The Pound once bought around $2.80.

A 16GB WiFi iPad produced by Apple with Retina display sells in Australia for A$539 (£351), $40 above the price in the US, despite the stronger local currency.

Microsoft's latest versions of office 365 home premium cost A$119 (£77.55) in Australia versus $99.99 (£63) in America.

IT firms and other multinationals have blamed high operating costs in Australia including high local wages and conditions, as well as import costs and the relatively small size of the retail market in the $1.5 trillion (£997bn) economy.

Failure to appear before the committee as ordered could leave all three firms open to contempt of parliament charges, fines or even jail terms.

"For some time consumers and businesses have been trying to work out why they are paying so much more, particularly for software, where if it's downloaded there is no shipping or handling, or much of a labour cost," Mr Husic said.

Adobe and Microsoft have previously provided separate written statements and submissions to the inquiry, but executives have been reluctant to explain their pricing before a public inquiry.

"The companies have blamed each other for not appearing. One will say 'we're not going to appear if the other is not going to appear'. So we've cut straight to the chase and said we'll just summons you," Mr Husic said.

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Horsemeat Legal Action Starts In Europe

Britain is to hold crisis talks with other countries over the horsemeat scandal today as the first court cases related to the scare begin.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson told Sky News he would be talking to ministers in Europe about how to tackle the "sickening" contamination.

An unprecedented product screening has already been launched in the UK after some products on sale were found to be 100% horsemeat.

The Romanian government is investigating whether horse meat was mislabelled at their abattoirs before it was transported around the continent.

Amid concerns about the complicated supply chain, an experienced haulage worker has told Sky News that meat is being transported in poor hygiene conditions.

Mr Paterson has sought to play down fears that the scandal could pose a health risk, but some believe its full scale has yet to emerge.

On Monday, he said: "I understand court cases will begin in certain continental countries today between processors and suppliers and I very much hope that this is resolved rapidly.

"I will be talking to ministerial counterparts in Europe today because it is absolutely intolerable that a fraud is being carried out on the public."

The Cabinet minister, who will update MPs later, admitted the current supply system was flawed and that random testing and spot checks were being discussed.

However, he has already admitted the Government is powerless to impose a ban on meat imports unless the contaminated beef is found to be a danger to people's health.

"Arbitrary measures like that are not actually going to help. Firstly we are bound by the rules of the European market," he told Sky News.

"Should this move from an issue of labelling and fraud and there is evidence of material which represents a serious threat to human health, I won't hesitate to take action."

Findus is among the firms which have taken products off shelves

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said there is no evidence to suggest there is any danger.

But tests are being carried out for phenylbutazone - known as "bute" - because animals treated with the drug are not allowed to enter the food chain.

Findus, which had to recall its beef lasagnes made by French food supplier Comigel after they were found to be up to 100% horse meat, has said it will file a legal complaint in France.

Its Nordic branch says it plans to sue Comigel - which provides products to companies in 16 countries - and its suppliers.

"This is a breach of contract and fraud," said the head of Findus Nordic, Jari Latvanen. "Such behaviour on the part of a supplier is unacceptable."

Comigel head Erick Lehagre told reporters that the company had been fooled by its suppliers and vowed to seek compensation.

"We were victims and it's now clear that the problem was not with Findus nor with Comigel," he said. "This represents a very heavy loss for us and we will seek compensation."

The Findus meals were assembled by Comigel using meat provided by Spanghero, a meat-processing company also based in France.

Spanghero says in a statement on its website that it had bought products labelled as beef from Romania and has also threatened to sue.

Mr Paterson said no case for criminal action has been discovered in the UK yet but the FSA said it was "working closely" with police in case that changes.

The scandal has spread across Europe as details of the elaborate supply chain in the meat industry emerged.

Products have been removed from shops in Britain, France and Sweden as producers and distributors insisted they had been deceived about their contents.

French consumer safety authorities have said companies from Romania, Cyprus and the Netherlands as well as its own firms were involved.

The Romanian government is now investigating and their Dutch counterparts have said they are ready to do so if necessary.

On Sunday, Romania's President Traian Basescu said he feared his country "would be discredited for many years" if one of its meat suppliers was found to be at fault.

France's Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon warned it "will not hesitate" to to take legal action if there is evidence companies had knowingly duped consumers.

Mr Hamon said an initial investigation by French safety authorities had found the French company Poujol bought frozen meat from a Cypriot trader.

That trader had bought it from a Dutch food supplier, who in turn bought it from two Romanian slaughterhouses.

Poujol then supplied a factory in Luxembourg, owned by Comigel - which then supplied Findus.

One theory for the apparent increase in the presence of horsemeat in the food chain is new restrictions on using horses on roads in Romania, which have led to a surge in numbers of animals being put down.

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Exclusive: Barclays To Shut Tax Advice Unit

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Barclays is to close its controversial tax avoidance unit as part of a drive to distance the bank from the perceptions of a "casino" banking culture which flourished under Bob Diamond, its former chief executive.

Sky News can reveal that Antony Jenkins, Barclays' new boss, will announce on Tuesday that it will wind down and close the division which was responsible for generating hundreds of millions of pounds in profit for the bank.

He will say that while legal, the tax avoidance schemes devised by its structured capital markets business were toxic for Barclays' reputation.

Mr Jenkins will commit to avoiding transactions whose sole purpose is to access tax benefits, according to a senior source inside Barclays' investment bank who has been briefed on his plans.

I have also learnt that the Barclays boss will also unveil a set of binding tax principles that will dictate the mandates in which the bank's executives are permitted to be involved.

During his appearance this week in front of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, Mr Jenkins said that the structured capital markets operation would be "changed" but he did not say it would be closed altogether.

Lord Lawson, the former Chancellor and a member of the Commission, accused Barclays of engaging in "industrial scale tax avoidance".

Mr Jenkins' announcement will be made amid a robust debate about corporate tax avoidance and at a difficult time for the reputation of Barclays and the wider banking industry, mired as it is in mis-selling scandals and a multi-agency investigation into the manipulation of the benchmark interest rate, Libor.

It is unclear what impact the tax unit's closure will have on Barclays' profitability, but its lucrative nature has not deterred Mr Jenkins' decision.

The news will be disclosed alongside Mr Jenkins' broader vision for Barclays as it emerges from the most significant crisis in its recent history.

It is unclear whether executives who work in the tax advisory unit will be reassigned elsewhere within Barclays, or whether some will leave.

Mr Jenkins is cutting a substantial number of jobs in its investment bank, further details of which will be outlined on Tuesday.

I understand that among the other measures that Mr Jenkins will announce as part of his effort to rebuild Barclays' reputation, he will say that Barclays will reduce the proportion of revenue generated by its investment bank that is paid out to staff.

Historically, Barclays has been among the most generous payers in the City, paying out 45% or more of revenues to employees in salary, bonuses and benefits.

After it bought the US operations of Lehman Brothers in 2008, Mr Diamond oversaw an aggressive push to help the bank compete with the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan on Wall Street.

For 2012, Mr Jenkins is expected to say that the proportion of revenue paid to staff in Barclays' investment bank stood at approximately 38%, and he will pledge to reduce that in the coming years to a level much closer to 30%.

The new Barclays chief will also signal that he plans to re-balance the ratio between dividend and bonus payments following an outcry from shareholders last year.

The bank paid three times as much to employees as it did to investors in 2011, and although he will not make a specific pledge about how far that will change, he is expected to reassure shareholders that he acknowledges their concerns about the issue.

Mr Jenkins has already waived his own bonus for 2012, conceding that the bank's £290m Libor-rigging fine and multi-billion-pound bill for mis-selling payment protection insurance and interest rate hedging products made the decision inevitable.

"Barclays is fundamentally changing," one insider close to Mr Jenkins said on Saturday.

"Next week is about showing that he is reshaping the bank in a radical way."

Barclays will be the first of the big UK banks to announce annual results for 2012 next week.

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'Scotland Is Better Off In Britain' Says Cameron

David Cameron has launched a defence of the UK as his Government prepares to put the "facts" about Scottish independence to the public.

While people in Scotland will make the decision in autumn next year, the implications will have impacts across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister said.

"Britain is admired around the world as a source of prosperity, power and security," he said.

"Those glorious Olympics last summer reminded us just what we were capable of when we pull together: Scottish, English, Welsh, Northern Irish, all in the same boat - sometimes literally.

"If you told many people watching those Olympics around the world that we were going to erect barriers between our people, they'd probably be baffled. Put simply: Britain works. Britain works well. Why break it?"

Addressing matters of the "heart and head", Mr Cameron spoke out one day before the British Government publishes the first in a series of analysis papers about Scotland's role in the union.

It comes one week after the Scottish Government published a "road map" from the referendum next year to full statehood in early 2016.

The Scottish Government has drawn up a 'road map' to independence

Mr Cameron said Britain has built up "world-renowned" institutions such as the NHS, and "fought for freedom" in two world wars, leaving "unbreakable bonds".

He said: "But the case for the UK is about head as well as heart - our future as well as our past.

"I have no time for those who say there is no way Scotland could go it alone. I know first-hand the contribution Scotland and Scots make to Britain's success - so for me there's no question about whether Scotland could be an independent nation.

"The real question is whether it should - whether Scotland is stronger, safer, richer and fairer within our United Kingdom or outside it. And here, I believe, the answer is clear."

He added: "This big question is for Scotland to decide. But the answer matters to all of our United Kingdom. Scotland is better off in Britain. We're all better off together and poorer apart."

Scotland has its own government and parliament in Edinburgh as part of the UK, allowing decisions to be taken that affect daily lives.

Devolved powers include health and education, while Scotland has maintained an independent legal system.

In the "road-map" publication last week, it was suggested that negotiations between Scottish ministers and the UK Government, European Union and international organisations could be concluded by March 2016, assuming a Yes vote in autumn 2014.

Nicola Sturgeon has accused PM of launching an 'entirely negative attack'

Mr Cameron criticised the Scottish National Party (SNP) for discussing the final transition to independence before all the facts have been aired.

But Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon defended the move, saying: "The Electoral Commission has called on both sides of the independence debate to provide more information to the people of Scotland and to work together to discuss what will happen in the wake of the referendum.

"We have agreed with the Electoral Commission and published information about the transition to independence following a Yes vote.

"The Prime Minister's remarks suggest he is ignoring the Electoral Commission's advice - despite the previous calls of the Westminster government for the Scottish Government to follow their advice.

"And instead of spelling out a positive case, David Cameron is simply continuing with an entirely negative attack."

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RBS Boss Hester Paid Bonus Despite Fine

The boss of the taxpayer-funded Royal Bank of Scotland will be paid a bonus of £780,000 just weeks after his bank was fined £391m for rate-rigging.

Chief executive Stephen Hester will be given the bonus in shares next month as part of a reward scheme for his performance in 2010.

The payout will undoubtedly anger critics of such schemes across the City, especially given its timing so soon after the Libor scandal rocked RBS.

Mr Hester will be handed the shares next month, and will be able to cash them 12 months later. The exact value will depend on the share price when he cashes them in.

Stephen Hester is to get the payout next month

Mr Hester said last week he would stay to "finish the job" at the bank despite damning evidence from US and UK authorities over its role in the Libor scandal, dating back to 2006 and continuing through to late 2010 - when investigations had already begun.

RBS, which is 81% owned by the Government, will recoup around £300m from its staff bonus pool and clawing back previous awards to pay for the fines.

RBS said 21 staff were involved in attempting to manipulate interbank lending rates - specifically Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc Libor submissions - from 2006 to as recently as November 2010.

Mr Hester's payout next month is the second tranche of two-part reward scheme that was announced in 2011.

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