Anti-Fracking Protesters Cleared By Police

Police have been forcibly clearing protesters from a road outside a potential site for fracking in Balcombe, West Sussex.

Activists are taking part in a six-day Reclaim The Power demonstration after Cuadrilla began carrying out exploratory drilling at the site.

Hundreds of campaigners have staged noisy protests in the face of a police presence of more than 400 officers.

Sky's Enda Brady, in Balcombe, said a number of people had been detained for public order offences, including Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.

Police confirmed that up to 30 people had been arrested by late Monday afternoon.

They were held after Sussex Police served a notice under section 14 of the Public Order Act, believing the crowd might cause public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community.

Caroline Lucas joined protesters at the site, and was among those arrested

Shouts of "shame on you" and "no violence" erupted from the crowd as police tried to move the protesters back to the main gate of the site.

Demonstrators chanted: "We are peaceful, what are you?"

Vanessa Vine, founder of Frack Free Sussex and Britain and Ireland Frack Free, said the police presence was disproportionately heavy and added that Reclaim The Power were "not nasty, violent people" but "altruistic people who are challenging what the Government is doing".

A protester is removed from the Cuadrilla HQ in Lichfield

Earlier, Sussex Police said on Twitter: "We would like to reiterate that protesters aren't being kettled and are free to leave the site as they wish."

Cuadrilla condemned the "illegal direct actions" against its staff and operations.

Campaigners opposing the controversial process of extracting shale gas blockaded the firm's headquarters while others superglued themselves to the building occupied by a PR firm used by the energy company.

Protesters glued their hands together through a plastic pipe

The action at Cuadrilla in Lichfield, Staffordshire, and at PR company Bell Pottinger in central London comes on the first of two days of "mass civil disobedience" which campaigners have pledged to carry out.

In a statement, Cuadrilla said: "Protesters broke into our Lichfield office, harassed our staff and chained themselves to filing cabinets.

"The police are on site dealing with this. We condemn all illegal direct actions against our people and operations."

The firm insisted that the morale of its staff at various sites is "fine", and they and the teams supporting the company are "doing a magnificent job".

Protesters' tents outside the office in Lichfield

"They know that what we are doing is legal, approved and safe, and that shale gas is essential to improve our energy security, heat our homes, and create jobs and growth," the firm said.

"Cuadrilla is rightly held accountable for complying with multiple planning and environmental permits and conditions, which we have met and will continue to meet.

"Clearly we are held to one set of legally enforceable standards while some protesters believe that they can set out and follow their own."

Campaign group No Dash For Gas said six protesters superglued themselves to the glass door of Bell Pottinger at 8am and deployed reinforced arm tubes to stop anyone else getting inside.

Meanwhile, it said 20 protesters shut down the Cuadrilla site in Lichfield by blockading it with their bodies. It said two people inside the building had also hung banners from it saying: "Reclaim the power" and "Power to the people".

A group of around 20 protesters also demonstrated outside the constituency office of Balcombe MP and Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude.

Activists also targeted the home of former Tory minister and George Osborne's father-in-law Lord Howell, who drew criticism recently when he said fracking should take place in England's "desolate" North.

The group erected an estate agent's sign outside the Peer's house reading 'For Shale - Desolate Properties Ltd'.

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Osborne's Help Fuels £50m Estate Agency Deal

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

George Osborne's effort to stimulate the UK housing market is fuelling a flurry of corporate activity among estate agency owners, with one entrepreneur poised to reap a multimillion pound windfall from the sale of his business.

Sky News understands that Dale Norton, who established the Berkshire-based Romans Group in 1987, has decided to cash in by offloading the company to Bowmark Capital, a private equity group, for around £50m.

Bowmark has seen off competition from rival bidders including LDC and Inflexion and could conclude a takeover of Romans, which operates more than 20 branches and employs more than 350 people, within days.

The deal will trigger speculation that Bowmark will merge Romans with Leaders, a chain of letting agents in which it invested in 2010.

Analysts said that Bowmark would be able to reap significant cost savings by combining the two businesses.

One insider pointed out that the private equity group had grown Leaders from 42 to 72 branches through 29 separate acquisitions which it had then integrated during the last three years.

However, one person familiar with the deal said that a merger was "not on the cards" at the moment and that Romans would be an "independent acquisition" by Bowmark.

The transaction comes amid growing optimism about the state of parts of Britain's housing market as the Chancellor seeks to use a string of measures to accelerate a wider economic upturn.

Mr Osborne's Help to Buy scheme, which launched in April, has seen 10,000 first-time buyers sign up for state-sponsored financial support to buy new-build homes, triggering a surge in house builders' share prices.

Countrywide, an estate agency chain, has seen its shares soar since a flotation earlier this year, while Foxtons, a rival, is likely to announce its intention to list its shares later this month.

Although housing transaction volumes remain low by historical standards, figures published this weekend by the Halifax show that mortgages are now typically more affordable than at any time since 1999.

The second phase of the Help to Buy initiative is due to kick off early next year, and is proving to be more politically contentious.

It will enable lenders to use Government-backed guarantees to offer £130bn-worth of mortgages with smaller deposits of at least 5% on new and older properties.

The Chancellor is, though, being urged to abandon the scheme to prevent another housing bubble, with data published this month revealing that lending to first-time buyers has risen to its highest level since the beginning of the financial crisis.

The takeover of Romans will effectively be structured as a management buyout, with the existing executive team rolling over some of their stake into the new ownership structure.

The size of Mr Norton's shareholding is unclear, although insiders said he would crystallise "a considerable fortune" by selling the company he founded 26 years ago.

Bowmark declined to comment on Sunday.

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Families Struggling With £150k Child-Rearing Costs

The cost of raising a child has risen by 4% in the last year to almost £150,000, a study has found.

The research published by Child Poverty Action Group and co-funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals that British parents face a growing struggle to provide a decent standard of living for their families.

The study found it now costs a minimum of £148,000 to bring up a child to the age of 18 and meet their minimum needs, including childcare and housing, which is around £160 a week.

The minimum necessary cost for raising a child rose by 4% in 2013, but in comparison average earnings rose by just 1.5%, the minimum wage increased by 1.8%, and child benefit did not go up at all.

The study also found the value of both child benefit and child tax credit relative to the costs of raising a child has decreased in the last year.

Many low-income families have also seen cuts in housing support with the introduction of changes such as the spare-room subsidy, dubbed the "bedroom tax" by Labour.

At the same time, working families have had to contend with rapidly increasing childcare costs, which have risen by 5.9% in the last year.

Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: "This research paints a stark picture of families being squeezed by rising prices and stagnant wages, yet receiving ever-diminishing support from the Government over the course of the last year.

"Every parent knows it's getting harder to pay for the essentials their children need, and they don't feel like politicians see them as a priority.

"Child benefit and child tax credit have been cut at the very time families need them most. Families are getting worse off and parents know it.

"If every child in Britain can grow up healthy, well-educated and an active participant in their community, we all benefit from a more prosperous economy.

"This was well understood by the post-war generation who prioritised universal benefits for all children despite being much deeper in debt than we are today.

"As we move towards a 'living standards election', now would be a good time to renew our national commitment to all our children."

Katie Schmuecker, policy and research manager at Joseph Rowntree Foundation, added: "The next election is likely to be the first since the 1930s where living standards are lower than the last poll.

"All parties must go to the country with policies and a commitment to help the prospects of low-income families.

"The risk and costs otherwise are enormous. Child poverty costs the Treasury £29bn a year - a price we can scarcely afford to pay, particularly in the current economic context."

The coalition insists it has to slash the welfare bill to reduce the burden on the taxpayer and to rebalance the system so that it pays to work.

A Government spokesman said: "We know times are tough, and we are securing a recovery for everyone who wants to work hard.

"That is why we are taking action to help families with the cost of living by cutting income tax for 25 million people, which will save a typical taxpayer over £700, taking 2.7 million out of income tax altogether and freezing council tax for five years, saving a typical household £600."

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Lobbying Bill Branded A 'Dog's Breakfast'

David Cameron's plans to prevent future lobbying scandals are a "dog's breakfast", according to the head of the Commons committee scrutinising the reforms.

The Lobbying Bill is due to start its passage through Parliament when MPs return to Westminster in the autumn.

It sets out moves to create a statutory register of lobbyists but only firms which say it is their main business would need to register - excluding many key players.

Labour MP Graham Allen, the head of the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, says it will not open up the £2bn lobbying industry to effective scrutiny.

"The new lobbying law is rushed and ridiculous," he told The Independent.

"Instead of addressing the Prime Minister's promise to 'shine the light of transparency' on lobbying, this flawed legislation will mean we'll all be back in a year facing another scandal. It is a dog's breakfast."

Mr Allen has taken the unusual step of recalling his committee during MPs' summer break for a series of special hearings to take further evidence from key lobbying industry figures.

The hope is apparently that the last-minute sessions could prompt a rethink in Downing Street.

David Cameron warned lobbying would be "the next big political scandal"

Iain Anderson, director of lobbying firm Cicero and chairman of the Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC), is one of those due to appear before MPs.

He told The Independent: "The Government knows 95% of what lobbyists do will not be covered by this law.

"They have fixed on the public's concern over rogue lobbyists but this law will only undermine public confidence."

David Cameron said lobbying in Westminster was "the next big political scandal" back in 2009 and the coalition vowed to tackle the issue in their 2010 agreement.

The Government was criticised for dragging its feet before finally publishing the long-awaited legislation last month.

As well as a statutory register, it controversially also includes annual membership audits for trade unions and curbs on unions funding elections.

A new lower limit of £390,000 in campaign spending in the 12 months before a national poll - now to include staff time and office costs as well as materials - would apply.

Union bosses have called for urgent talks with ministers over concerns the reforms could prevent their annual conferences or a national demonstration before an election.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady claimed stricter controls on spending by bodies other than political parties would be "an outrageous attack on freedom of speech worthy of an authoritarian dictatorship".

Ms O'Grady said: "It's an open secret at Westminster that this rushed Bill has nothing to do with cleaning up lobbying or getting big money out of politics. Instead it is a crude and politically partisan attack on trade unions, particularly those who affiliate to the Labour Party.

"But it has been drawn so widely that its chilling effect will be to shut down dissent for the year before an election. No organisation that criticises a government policy will be able to overdraw their limited ration of dissent without fearing a visit from the police."

She added: "This will not just gag unions, but any group or organisation that disagrees with government - or opposition - policies."

Downing Street said Mr Cameron "certainly does not agree" with Mr Allen's assessment" but held the door open to changes to the reform plans.

Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with the legislation as drafted, a spokesman said: "As a Government, we will always put forward legislation in the best format we can.

"There is then discussion and debate in the House. If, as a part of that discussion and debate, we feel the need to refine legislation then of course we will.

"The Prime Minister's view is that it is important that we continue to increase transparency and that's exactly what this Bill will do."

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Housing Market: Builder Plots Acceleration

The boss of Bovis Homes has told Sky News the company is to step up its building of new houses as the market recovery gathers pace.

David Ritchie was speaking after the builder posted a 19% increase in first half pre-tax profit to £18.6m.

It said that while market house price increases were estimated at up to 2% over the year to date, its own average sale price had risen to £188,500 on average - a rise of 15%.

Bovis, like its competitors, has credited Government measures such as the Help to Buy shared equity scheme for improved activity in the market, benefiting first-time buyers especially.

Funding for Lending has aided borrowers in that it has brought down mortgage costs.

David Ritchie sees construction accelerating this year and next

The company spoke of an acceleration in business, with trading in the 32 weeks to August 9 realising a 43% increase in private reservations to 1,712 homes.

Mr Ritchie said: "The group has performed strongly during the first half of 2013 and has delivered a 50% increase in housing operating profit.

"We have plan in place this year to increase our production by around 25% year over year and we expect to increase our production again in 2014.

"So we are stepping up and building significantly more homes because of the initiatives the Government have put in place and our strategy being deployed."

Official data and other market surveys have all pointed to a recovery in activity, with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) suggesting there were signs of a recovery "round the corner" with every region of the country showing growth.

The speed of the market improvement in recent months has led ministers to dismiss fears that the Government's intervention risks creating a market bubble.

The property website Rightmove's latest report found the revival continued in August, despite the month seeing the first dip in sellers' asking prices during 2013.

It said asking prices edged down by 1.8% month-on-month to £249,199 on average - but the string of price increases seen over the last seven months meant they were still £20,000 higher now than at the start of the year.

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Helen Mirren Models M&S Autumn Collection

Acclaimed fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz has captured a selection of "Britain's leading ladies" for a campaign showcasing the new Marks & Spencer collection.

The "Meet Britain's Leading Ladies" campaign will be launched next month and features photographs of a dozen successful British women from various fields.

Among those photographed are the actress Dame Helen Mirren, artist Tracey Emin, author Monica Ali, Olympic champion boxer Nicola Adams and creative director of US Vogue Grace Coddington.

The photographs show a dozen of Britain's leading women

Ballerina Darcey Bussell, supermodel Karen Elson, singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding and charity campaigner Katie Piper also feature in the latest M&S campaign.

Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, executive director for marketing and business development at the retailer, said: "We wanted this campaign to signal a new and confident tone of voice to introduce Autumn.

"Annie was the perfect choice to shoot a campaign of this magnitude.

"Her unmistakable, signature style, with its truly dramatic aesthetic was exactly what we needed to communicate the essence of the campaign and of the new M&S.

"Annie's photography has become synonymous with defining key moments in the history of brands over the years and, as such, we feel that this campaign is the ideal way to illustrate M&S' move into a new era."

There was no place in the line-up for model Twiggy, who has starred in M&S adverts for the past several years.

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CBI Lifts Growth Forecast Amid Optimism

The CBI has lifted its forecast for economic growth for this year from 1% to 1.2% amid signs of a pick-up in business confidence.

Optimism about performance across the services, construction and manufacturing sectors has added to hopes that the recovery is gathering pace after 0.6% growth in the second quarter.

The CBI, which represents 240,000 UK businesses, has also increased its forecast growth for 2014, from 2% to 2.3%, predicting that increasing disposable income and business and housing investment will boost demand.

However, the body warns that a hoped-for rebalancing of the economy to become less reliant on consumer spending and more focused on investment and trade is taking longer than expected.

Its upgrade comes after figures last week showed that the eurozone, Britain's biggest trading partner, had emerged from recession.

The CBI says improvements in Europe together with a broader global recovery will give a positive boost to exports.

CBI chief John Cridland says recovery is still in its early days

However a recovering domestic situation should also mean more imports so the trade contribution will remain small, it warns.

Meanwhile the organisation says that the Bank of England's recently-announced "forward guidance" policy - designed to provide reassurance that interest rates will remain low for some time to come - will add to positive sentiment.

CBI director-general John Cridland said: "The economy has started to gain momentum and confidence is picking up, but it's still early days.

"We need to see a full-blown rebalancing of our economy, with stronger business investment and trade before we can call a sustainable recovery. We hope that will begin to emerge next year, as the eurozone starts growing again."

Stephen Gifford, CBI director of economics, warned that while a gradual increase in UK investment and UK trade was expected, risks remained including from the eurozone and a new regulatory financial environment.

"Meanwhile, emerging markets are facing structural challenges, particularly as China rebalances towards domestic consumption, which indicates muted growth prospects," he added.

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Vodafone Defends HMRC Tax Deal

Vodafone made a settlement thought to be worth millions with HM Revenue and Customs over tax returns at an Irish subsidiary, it has been revealed.

The previously unreported deal emerged after the Guardian said that accounts filed in Dublin showed the company settled a dispute with HMRC in 2009.

The UK-based company used an Irish subsidiary, Ireland Marketing Ltd (VIML), to collect royalty payments from operating companies and joint ventures around the world for using its brand, the newspaper said.

The overall size of the settlement has not been disclosed but it reportedly involved Vodafone reclaiming 67 million euros (£57m) in tax from the Irish government that should have been paid in the UK.

In a statement the company told Sky News: "The royalty payments that were made were done so under domestic and international transfer pricing rules which are set up by governments to allocate appropriate taxable profits from one country to another.

"The company's local UK and Italy operating companies continued to pay fees to Vodafone Group in the UK and no royalties have ever been paid from the UK to Ireland or elsewhere."

It explained: "The settlement with HMRC related to a number of technical factors regarding inter-group transfer pricing arrangements.

"Notably, throughout the period covered by the settlement, the profits of VIML had been taxed by the Irish authorities at the rate of 25%.

"In accordance with the treaty between the UK and Ireland which prevents double taxation on the same income, the Irish government credited taxes previously paid by Vodafone and these were then paid to the UK Treasury as part of the overall settlement."

It added: "Vodafone conducts itself in full compliance with the law and always operates under a policy of full transparency with the tax authorities in all countries in which we operate.

"Vodafone's relationship with tax authorities is based on complete disclosure and a rigorous adherence to due process at all times."

The emergence of the deal comes following scrutiny over the tax affairs of multinational companies including Starbucks, Google and Amazon.

An HMRC spokesperson said: "We do not comment on the affairs of individuals or companies, but we do ensure that multinationals pay the tax which is due under the law."

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Tesco Strawberry Blunder Leads To £300k Fine

Tesco has been fined £300,000 for misleading customers after a single shopper complained about a national strawberry price promotion which allegedly netted the chain £2.3m in profits.

The case - brought by Birmingham City Council - related to the cost of 400g punnets of British strawberries sold at a store in the city.

The woman complained they were marked up as "half price" at £1.99 - with an apparent original cost of £3.99 crossed out.

She asked trading standards to investigate because she had never seen the original price and wondered if it was excessive and misleading.

The company admitted a number of offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations Act 2008 after failing at an earlier hearing to prevent the council bringing the case on a national basis.

The shopper complained after visiting Tesco's Sheldon branch

Trading Standards told the court that Tesco's offer (at £1.99) fell foul of rules as it ran for 14 weeks, but the strawberries were sold at the higher price of £3.99 for a much shorter length of time.

The case also included a similar promotion when a pot of cream was included in the discount.

Birmingham City Council argued both offers were presented in a way that misled or was likely to deceive the average consumer and the promotions earned the chain £2.32m in additional profits.

The judge described Tesco's turnover as a result of the promotions as "excessive" but agreed that while the supermarket chain had breached customers' trust, it was not the retailer's intention to deliberately mislead them.

In a statement Tesco said: "We apologise sincerely for this mistake, which was made in the summer of 2011.

"We sell over 40,000 products in our stores, with thousands on promotion at any one time, but even one mistake is one too many.

"Since then, to make sure this doesn't happen again, we've given colleagues additional training and reminded them of their responsibilities to ensure we always adhere to the guidelines on pricing."

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Petrol Price Warning As Retailers Forecast Hikes

Fuel prices are set to rise by as much as 5p a litre, according to the Petrol Retailers' Association (PRA).

It comes amid civil unrest in Syria and Egypt as well as a reduction in Libya's oil exports, which are down by a third.

The PRA's forecast follows a rise in Brent crude oil, which pushed past the $110 a barrel mark last week, a 10% increase since the end of June.

Goldman Sachs Group has also predicted that oil prices could go up to $115 a barrel in the 'very near term'.

Brian Madderson chairman of the PRA said: "UK petrol prices have not yet seen the full impact of this crude oil increase due to the rapid and slightly unexpected revaluation of pound sterling from $1.48 to $1.56.

"Therefore it was concerning to read recent comments from the City that the 'pound is overblown' and will soon come hurtling down towards the $1.45 level."

He added: "We calculate at current wholesale prices that this will add a further 5p per litre at the pump before the end of September and hit businesses and households in the pocket at a time when pundits are forecasting a continued increase in retail sales to drive growth in the economy. 

"Should the Middle East tensions escalate further and crude oil prices react accordingly, the Bank of England's new inflation targets could be significantly challenged.

"The sooner the EU Competition investigation into allegations of oil price fixing is completed, the more certain we can be that our retail fuel prices are only being influenced by macro-economic and political factors and not anti-competitive actions of the oil companies."

The average price of petrol across the UK is currently £1.37 a litre, according to Experian Catalist.

The PRA explained that if its predictions are right and prices rise, it will be fast approaching the record high of £1.42 a litre, which the nation saw in April.

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