Banks Defend Charges From 'Rip-Off' Claim

Banks insist they are offering clear and simple charges, while research claims their fees for going overdrawn can be as expensive as those imposed by payday lenders.

Research by Which? found that people can rack up "sky high" default charges if they slip into an unauthorised overdraft. It also criticised some other borrowing arrangements as "eye-wateringly" expensive.

The consumer group cited a number of examples: Borrowing £100 for 31 days will cost £30 with a Halifax authorised overdraft or £20 with some Santander accounts, while borrowing the same amount for around a month with a payday loan firm such as Quickquid or Wonga costs between £20 and £37.

For consumers using the Halifax Reward current account and the Santander Everyday Account it can cost £100 in charges for going £100 into an unauthorised overdraft for a month, Which? said.

The group's findings follow hot on the heels of tougher action against the payday loans industry while the whole credit market will come under the supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) next year.

The FCA recently announced measures it plans to impose, including limiting the number of times payday lenders are allowed to roll over loans to twice and forcing them to put "risk warnings" on their advertising.

Which? urged the FCA to crack down on poor lending and unscrupulous practices across the credit market and demanded that default charges reflect lenders actual costs.

It also called for tougher affordability checks and an end to lenders making unsolicited increases to people's credit limits.

Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director, said: "The Government and regulators have rightly focused on the scandal of payday lending but they must not lose sight of the urgent need to clean up the whole of the credit market.

High street bank overdraft fees can be just as eye-watering as payday loans.

"Consumers need the credit market to work competitively. It's time to clamp down on excessive charges and irresponsible lending, and to make sure borrowers are being treated fairly whatever form of credit they're using."

Anthony Browne, British Bankers' Association chief executive, said overdraft charges for customers had fallen "significantly" in recent years.

He said: "The Office of Fair Trading estimates that customers are now up to £1bn better off due to reductions in these fees.

"The higher figures quoted by Which? are based on extreme examples of unauthorised overdrafts. This is not a form of borrowing that we would ever recommend."

Santander told Sky News: "Santander's overdraft charges are clear, transparent and easy for customers to understand.

"In addition to the simple daily charging structure, we have a number of tools and policies that help our customers stay in control and minimise charges such as overdraft buffers, text alerts, caps and grace periods.

"Whenever possible, customers should discuss short-term borrowing requirements with Santander in order to avoid unnecessary charges."

Halifax also released a statement, saying: "Halifax offers a clear and simple overdraft charging structure, whereby customers are charged one daily fee rather than multiple fees."

It added that it would always contact a customer if they were in their unplanned overdraft for more than seven days to discuss alternative payment options.

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Buyout Firms Eye Debut On West End Stage

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Some of the world's biggest private equity firms are mulling takeover bids for the company behind the landmark London theatres that are home to productions including The Lion King and Dirty Dancing.

Sky News has learnt that half a dozen investment groups have been given access to financial information about Ambassador Theatre Group - owner of venues including the Donmar and Lyceum - meaning that a controlling stake in the company could change hands within months.

The interested private equity funds are understood to be BC Partners, Blackstone, Carlyle, Charterhouse, Lion Capital and Permira, which collectively manage tens of billions of pounds of investments.

Ambassador's majority shareholder, Exponent Private Equity, has invited the firms to consider making offers ahead of a wider auction that had been planned for early next year.

A number of international theatre groups are also understood to be interested in examining Ambassador's books. Any buyer is likely to want to see the company's performance during the crucial Christmas trading period, which accounts for about half of its annual trading profits.

Exponent acquired a roughly 55% stake in the UK's largest theatre operator in 2009 in a deal valuing it at just over £130m. The remainder is owned by a number of wealthy individuals and Ambassador's founders, Howard Panter and his wife, Rosemary Squire.

Ambassador's minority investors are said not to be keen to sell their shares as part of the current sale process, but one insider said the existing shareholder agreement contained a clause known as drag rights, which may mean that any buyer of Exponent's stake has the power to compel other investors to sell at the same time.

UBS, the Swiss bank, is handling the sale, which is likely to value Ambassador at between £250m and £350m. Exponent is expected to make a handsome return on its investment, which could also reap a windfall for Greg Dyke, the former BBC director-general who now chairs Ambassador as well as the Football Association.

The company owns about a dozen venues in London's theatreland, which are staging productions such as Jersey Boys, which is transferring to Ambassador's Piccadilly Theatre in March next year.

The Lion King, which is staged at the Lyceum, is one of the West End's most successful and long-running musicals.

In total, Ambassador owns 39 venues in Britain. It was established by Mr Panter and Ms Squire in 1992, and sold to Exponent four years ago in a deal that combined the existing ATG and the theatre portfolio of Live Nation, the American entertainment giant.

Since then, the company has expanded through bolt-on acquisitions including its debut appearance on New York's Broadway this year, when it paid around £40m to buy the Foxwoods Theatre, home to Spiderman: The Musical.

A sale process will take place at a buoyant time for London's theatre industry. Ambassador saw a 17% surge in sales to £111m in the 12 months to March 2012, while operating profits during the same period rose nearly 70% to £15.5m. Both measures are understood to have grown again during the subsequent 12 months.

Overall West End ticket sales were up in 2012 for the ninth consecutive year running despite an anticipated decline during the London Olympics.

Fears about the economic environment and the Games proved relatively unfounded with attendance increasing to almost 14m, up 0.56%, and box office sales setting a new record of £530m, up 0.27%.

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Energy Prices: Labour Accuses PM Of Being 'Weak'

Labour has attacked the Prime Minister for failing to help families struggling with rising energy bills by freezing price rises.

It follows the announcement this week by SSE that it is raising its prices by 8.2%.

Other firms in the so-called Big Six are likely to follow suit.

Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint told Sky's Murnaghan programme that David Cameron has two years before the next election to make a decision on whether to help householders and businesses.

The Prime Minister has been accused of protecting a market which introduces price rises annually.

The Labour Party has promised to freeze prices until 2017 if it wins the 2015 general election.

Ms Flint said: "I would urge David Cameron at look at this now and question whether or not these price rises are justified."

She added that she would also like the main companies to be pressurised into breaking away from "the herd" and lowering prices.

Labour leader Ed Miliband wrote in the Sunday Mirror that Mr Cameron "is the man who lets energy bills go up by £300 for families instead of reforming the energy market".

"He is always weak when it comes to standing up to the strong. And this is the week when the country could see it," he said.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show consumers are likely to see higher bills as international wholesale gas prices rise.

"The gas price has gone up by 50% over the last five years and over 50% of the bill is wholesale gas price. We have also seen a big increase in the network costs because we have got to replace ageing network. These are costs which are impossible to avoid."

However he ruled out cuts to so-called green taxes, which critics blame for pushing up prices unnecessarily.

"Most of them are actually social policies to help the fuel-poor manage their bills. I don't think we want to get rid of those," he said.

"Moreover we need to help people who aren't necessarily fuel-poor, but want to do energy efficiency measures to reduce their bills.

"It would be silly to get rid of that aspect. If you actually look at the part of the so-called green taxes which is funding renewable energy/low carbon energies it's only 4% of the bill."

But he added that a "massive" wave of investment from China, Japan and Korea would secure the UK's power supply into the future.

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Sir Richard Branson Defends Farewell To Britain

Sir Richard Branson, who has spent decades flying the flag for British business through his Virgin brand, has said he decided to move to a Caribbean tax haven for his health.

The entrepreneur has reportedly sold his Oxfordshire estate and will spend his 60s living on Necker - the island he bought in the 1970s and recently rebuilt after a devastating fire.

The Sunday Times said the move meant the entrepreneur would not be required to pay any tax on personal income made outside Britain, although he would still be taxed on UK earnings.

His companies, which include airlines, balloon flights and health clubs, will also pay a significant amount of corporation tax.

However, in a blog posted on Sunday, Sir Richard stressed he had lived in the British Virgin Islands for seven years and would not live somewhere he did not want to simply to pay less tax.

"I have not left Britain for tax reasons, but for my love of the beautiful British Virgin Islands and in particular Necker Island, which I bought when I was 29 years old, 34 years ago, as an uninhabited island on the edges of the BVI.

Sir Richard bought Necker Island 34 years ago

"Seven years ago we decided to move permanently to Necker as we feel it gives me and my wife Joan the best chance to live another productive few decades. We can also look after our health  - Joan is approaching 70 and I'm not far behind.

"I still work day and night, now focusing on not-for-profit ventures, but on Necker I can also look after my health. There is no better place to stay active and I can kitesurf, surf, play tennis, swim, do Pilates and just play."

Sir Richard also said he spends most of his time starting not-for-profit ventures, the income from which is donated to charity.

"I spent 40 years working day and night in Great Britain building companies and creating competition and choice for consumers across a whole range of industries," he wrote.

Sir Richard's Virgin Atlantic calls itself a 'major British success story'

"The companies we created from scratch have created tens of thousands of jobs and paid hundreds of millions in tax.

"Now in my 60s I'm proud of what we've achieved and contributed and now spend the vast majority of my time building not-for-profit ventures, raising awareness around important issues and earning money for charity."

Sir Richard started the Virgin brand as a mail order record retailer in 1970 and founded the Virgin Atlantic airline 14 years later.

He is Britain's sixth wealthiest man with a £2.9bn fortune, according to Forbes magazine.

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Help To Buy: Lloyds Boss Questions Scheme

The chief executive of Britain's biggest mortgage lender says he fears Help to Buy could create a dangerous bubble in property prices - just weeks after giving the Government's scheme his unequivocal support.

Antonio Horta-Osorio - head of Lloyds Banking Group - told the Financial Times that unless steps were taken to increase the number of new homes being built, there was a risk of a "substantial increase in house prices."

He said the scheme should also be tweaked to focus "outside London and the South East", while planning and building rules should be relaxed.

The Lloyds boss also called for more social housing projects so that rising mortgage approvals do not drive up house prices.

Just six weeks ago, in an interview with Sky's business presenter Jeff Randall, Mr Horta-Osorio described Help to Buy as "absolutely the right thing to do."

The Halifax, which is owned by Lloyds, is a major lender under Help to Buy, which was recently extended to include a Government guarantee on high-risk mortgages, allowing people to buy a home with a deposit of just 5%.

Mr Horta-Osorio made his comments as a leading forecaster said the efforts to revive the mortgage market had been "well-timed" and would not lead to another housing market bubble.

The Ernst and Young ITEM Club believes house prices will rise by 3.5% across Britain this year and by 6.6% in 2014.

Lloyds owns Halifax which is participating in the scheme

The boss of Britain's so-called 'bad bank' also fuelled the debate by suggesting that Help to Buy could speed up the repayment of its £42bn taxpayer loan by lifting house prices.

Richard Banks, who runs UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), which manages the loans of failed lenders Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, said this could help lift customers out of negative equity - where loans exceed the value of their homes.

In an interview with the Times, he said: "If house prices go up outside London, it is a good thing for us as quite a few of our customers are trapped by their high loan-to-values.

"If higher house prices mean sufficient customers are able to and choose to remortgage with another mortgage provider, it may facilitate UKAR being able to pay off the Government loan more quickly."

While support for Help to Buy has been strong, so too has opposition with former Bank of England governor Lord King and the International Monetary Fund urging caution.

Recent official figures showed mortgage approvals running at a five-and-a-half-year high in August, while data from Nationwide showed house prices rose at their fastest annual rate in more than three years in September.

The strongest growth remains in London and the South East.

Lenders including Halifax, RBS and NatWest have started offering mortgages under Help to Buy while Santander, HSBC, Barclays, Virgin Money and Aldermore also plan to join it.

The scheme is expected to offer £12bn in mortgage guarantees over three years and some estimates suggest 180,000 loans could be taken out under the initiative.

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Greenpeace Plans Fracking Legal Challenge

Greenpeace is planning legal challenges against fracking to try to derail plans for the controversial method of extracting gas from rock.

The campaign group said it expected thousands of people to join the "legal block" so a series of "no go areas" could be set up across England.

Greenpeace spokeswoman Anna Jones claimed fracking was a "desperate ploy" by the Government to keep the UK hooked on fossil fuels.

"Fracking is risky for local environments, risky for our water supplies and risky for the global climate. People are right to stand up and say 'not under my land you don't'," she said.

Greenpeace said a number of residents in areas of potential fracking sites were joining the campaign.

Lawyer Kate Harrison said: "The common law on this is clear. If fracking companies don't seek and receive permission for drilling under people's homes, they will be liable for trespass.

"Companies would do well to respect people's rights and not push on with drilling plans where they're not wanted."

Andrew Pemberton, a dairy farmer in Lancashire said: "I'm supplying milk to 3,000 households, and if for any reason my water became contaminated, my business would be ruined and my livelihood destroyed, as well as the livelihoods of the 16 families who work for me.

An anti-fracking protest in Sussex

"Fracking is dangerous and short-sighted. We should be keeping this gas in the ground."

The UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG) has denounced the Greenpeace announcement as "extremely misleading".

It said in a statement: "Operators in this country are abiding by the law which states that activities at depths of over a mile under the ground do not impact landowners. However, in line with the law operators will inform all landowners in a very clear and transparent manner."

The statement added: "We would welcome the opportunity to have a constructive dialogue with Greenpeace and other environmental groups.

"This is an industry that has successfully been drilling for oil and gas onshore for over 150 years and has the opportunity to provide jobs, tax revenues, electricity and gas for citizens of this country for a long time to come."

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves the injection of highly pressurised fluids into shale to extract gas.

It was temporarily banned in the UK after it was blamed for two earth tremors in Blackpool in 2011, but a  government review has since concluded it is safe if adequately monitored.

Opinion remains bitterly divided, as witnessed by anti-fracking protests held in the summer in the West Sussex village of Balcombe.

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US Shutdown: Lagarde Issues Recession Warning

The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned failure to break the political stalemate over raising the US debt ceiling risks tipping the world into recession.

Christine Lagarde was speaking as there were few signs in Washington that solutions were close in either the row over the budget - which has left government in a partial shutdown for two weeks - or the debt ceiling wrangle.

However, Harry Reid - the Democratic Leader in the Senate - painted an optimistic picture of the dialogue with Republicans late on Sunday, though nothing concrete was disclosed.

Failure to lift the debt limit by Thursday would leave the US government unable to pay its bills or service its debts, leading to a default that analysts warn will devastate market values and tip the global economy back into recession.

In an interview on NBC Sunday talk show "Meet the Press," Lagarde said the US economy was already showing "real improvement," evident from indicators including those from the housing sector to household spending.

But she said it was crucial politicians work out a deal to re-open the government and continue borrowing so it does not default on its debt - and not just for a few weeks.

Lagarde warned of serious consequences from "a combination of the government shutdown for a period of time and, more seriously, more damaging, if the debt ceiling was not lifted with a degree of certainty and enough time so that people could, you know, sort of have the assurance that the economy was in good standing."

She said: "If there is that degree of disruption, that lack of certainty, that lack of trust in the US signature, it would mean massive disruption the world over. And we would be at risk of tipping, yet again, into recession."

She called on politicians to address spending on social programmes like Medicare and Social Security but cautioned that spending cuts must not be too drastic.

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Nobel For Economics Awarded To Americans

Three American professors have won the Nobel prize for economics for developing new methods to study trends in asset markets.

Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller, through their separate research, laid the foundation of the current understanding of asset prices, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

While it is hard to predict whether stock or bond prices will go up or down in the short term, it is possible to foresee movements over periods of three years or longer, the academy said.

"These findings, which might seem surprising and contradictory, were made and analysed by this year's laureates," it said.

The research has improved the forecasting of asset prices in the long term

The behaviour of asset prices is key to decisions such as savings, house buying and national economic policy, the academy added.

"Mis-pricing of assets may contribute to financial crises and, as the recent global recession illustrates, such crises can damage the overall economy."

Mr Fama, 74, and Mr Hansen, 60, are associated with the University of Chicago, while Mr Shiller, 67, is a professor at Yale University.

All of the 2013 Nobel prize winners have now been announced

Mr Shiller, an economist famous for having warned against bubbles in technology stocks and housing, said he reacted with "disbelief" when he received the telephone call from the academy.

"A lot of people have told me they hoped I would win it, but I'm aware there are so many other worthy people that I had discounted it, so I would say no, I did not expect it," he told reporters in Stockholm by telephone.

American researchers have dominated the economics awards in recent years - the last time there was no American among the winners was in 1999.

The economics prize, officially called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968.

It was not part of the original group of awards set out in Mr Nobel's will.

The Nobel committees have now announced all six of the annual $1.2m (£750,000) awards for 2013.

The awards will be presented to the winners amid royal pageantry on December 10, the anniversary of Mr Nobel's death in 1896.

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George Osborne To Relax China Visa Rules

Visa rules for Chinese nationals coming to Britain are being relaxed by the Government in a drive to boost visitor numbers.

Chancellor George Osborne, who is leading a UK trade delegation to China, said the changes will "streamline and simplify" the visa application process for tens of thousands of Chinese visitors.

He told students in Beijing: "We already have 130,000 Chinese students like you studying in Britain.

"I want more of you to come. And more Chinese visitors too.

"Let me make this clear to you and to the whole of China. There is no limit to the number of Chinese who can study in Britain.

"No limit to the number of Chinese tourists who can visit.

"No limit on the amount of business we can do together. For in the end what is a true dialogue?

"Not just a meeting between governments. Not just a conference of politicians.

"A real dialogue is where people get together, and talk, and learn, and understand and embrace the future together."

The move comes amid signs of a thaw in relations with Beijing which have been frosty since David Cameron met the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, last year.

The move will make it easier for tourists to visit

The changes will reduce the need for Chinese visitors to the European Union to submit separate visa applications for Britain, with selected Chinese travel agents able to apply for UK visas by submitting just the EU's Schengen area visa form.

A new 24-hour "super priority" visa service will become available from next summer, while officials are also looking at expanding a VIP mobile visa service, currently operating in Beijing and Shanghai, to the whole country.

The service involves visa teams going out to applicants to collect their completed forms and biometric data, with the whole process taking less than five minutes.

The move will be welcomed by businesses in the UK who have complained that the existing regime is discouraging high-spending Chinese visitors from coming to Britain.

In 2012, 210,000 visas were issued to visiting Chinese nationals who went on to contribute around £300m to the British economy.

Mr Osborne, speaking to Sky News from Beijing, said there was a "big difference" between people visiting Britain on holiday or for business and immigration.

Chinese nationals contribute £300m to the British economy

He insisted it was time to change British perceptions of China from the view that it is a "big sweatshop on the banks of the river" just making cheap manufacturing goods.

"The China of today has some of the world's largest internet companies, does some of the most advanced high-tech engineering, develops some of the world's leading medicines," he said.

"This is about the future of China. China has changed dramatically even in the last few years. I think if we in Britain don't understand that and appreciate that then we will miss out.

"I want us to be part of China's success. I don't see it as a threat to us. I see it as a great opportunity because there are many millions of people we can sell British goods and services to."

Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who is also on a trade visit to China, said he was pleased the Government had listened to him on simplifying the visa system for Chinese people.

He said: "I'm pleased that the Government has listened to the many voices, mine included, who have called repeatedly for a streamlining and simplification of the Chinese visa system.

"Whilst I await the detail, it would appear the Government's announcement of a pilot scheme available through select travel agents is a welcome step forward.

"The move will hopefully encourage ever greater numbers of Chinese tourists to London.

"Only today I launched the first ever Chinese language website dedicated to studying in and visiting London. Chinese visitors now have all the information they need to access London, and changes to the visa system that will hopefully make getting here a good deal easier."

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Grangemouth Refinery To Stop Fuel Production

All fuel production is to be halted at the Grangemouth refinery later on Monday ahead of a planned strike by staff this coming weekend that experts warn could cripple fuel supplies in Scotland.

The decision was announced as the owners of the site started peace talks in a bid to halt the planned 48-hour stoppage.

Ineos said on Sunday that it had agreed to go to independent arbitration with the Unite union  - a move seen as easing the prospect of a strike.

Grangemouth produces an estimated 13% of the UK's motor fuel capacity while it is understood that all of Scotland's needs are met through supplies from the site, which takes one week to be fully shut down.

The Scottish Government said contingency planning was under way in case the talks were unsuccessful.

Grangemouth provides all of Scotland's fuel needs

Unite confirmed on Friday its members would go on strike from October 20 in a dispute over alleged unfair treatment of a plant worker, Stephen Deans, who is also a union official.

The union and company are also arguing over terms and conditions at the plant.

Ineos has said the petrochemical site would have to close by 2017 unless a "survival plan" involving cutting pension entitlement and pay was implemented.

The company argues that the refinery, located on the Firth of Forth, is currently not profitable - losing more than £576m in the last four years and continues to lose £10m per month.

It claims the pension scheme is £200m in deficit and pension costs of 65% of salary are "unsustainable."

Speaking ahead of Monday's talks at Acas in Glasgow, Unite Scottish Secretary Pat Rafferty said: "We welcome Ineos's change of heart to join us at Acas.

"We've repeatedly urged the company to sit down with us at the conciliation service to resolve the issues surrounding the unfair treatment of our convenor and the future of Grangemouth.

"Over the weekend we have been working tirelessly to secure these talks and hope that the company will engage in them in an open, constructive manner."

An overwhelming mandate for strike action was received by Unite from the workforce, with 81.4% voting for walkouts and 90% for other forms of industrial action, on an 86% turnout.

Calum MacLean, Ineos chairman, said: "We have always been prepared to go to Acas if this helps to resolve a strike that Grangemouth petrochemical plant and refinery cannot afford.

"We hope to be able to resolve the dispute and address the financial issues that threaten the survival of the entire site."

Energy Secretary Ed Davey said he had worked hard to get the parties to agree to talks and called the move "a very welcome and encouraging step".

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