F-35 jet cleared for Carrier take-off, Defence Minister tells Select Committee READ MORE HERE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/f-35-jet-and-new-batch-of-uk-pilots-cleared-for-carrier-take-off-defence-minister-tells-select-committee

I have written complaint to my local council that I haven't received few letters from them including one with PIN to 'Council Online' and other decision including some of my data and informations that if missed could bring further negative consequences. In response I have received letter through encrypted [?] means [egress]. It says that I should contact RoyalMail and chase why letters are not getting to me. Am I right that it is Council that is in the contract with RM and it's their job to find out what is going on and they trying to fob me off? What do you reckon I should do next? If I'm right that is. Thanks

Major UK banks must raise a total of £25bn in extra capital by the end of 2013 to guard against potential losses, the Bank of England (BoE) has said. In a statement, the BoE's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said only some banks need to raise the cash, but did not name them. It said banks could face losses of about £50bn over the next three years, relating to bad loans and fines. The order is the first from the FPC, the new financial stability regulator. It said UK banks and building societies could lose billions of pounds over the next three years relating to "high-risk" loans in the UK commercial property sector and vulnerable eurozone economies. They may also lose money through fines, and require extra capital to support a "more prudent approach to risk". Some banks already have enough capital to cover these costs, the FPC said, but others are short. Yet more money may need to be raised after the end of 2013, the FPC warned, so that banks conform to incoming "Basel III" accords on banking regulation. More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21948429

Bosses preside over 'moral quagmire', says business secretary, as Barclays chief Bob Diamond is summoned to face MPs. Vince Cable has urged shareholders in UK banks to rise up and purge their companies of corrupt executives, who he says have allowed "systemic abuse" to take root in the banking system. The business secretary, writing in the Observer, says it is now clear that no one at Barclays Capital, the investment bank that triggered the market-rigging scandal, is prepared to take responsibility for endemic corruption, so the ultimate owners of banks must take matters into their own hands. Describing the problems in UK banking as "a moral quagmire of almost biblical proportions", Cable says the government is taking urgent action, including creating a clearer separation between "casino-style investment banking" and retail banking on the high street. Ministers will this week begin a review into the Libor system under which banks lend to each other and Cable hints that US-style criminal sanctions, such as the threat of prison terms, could be considered against those who abuse it. But he says shareholder power will be crucial. "Regulators are a backstop: they don't own banks," he writes. "The governance at the top of our leading banks has been shown to be lamentably weak. No one at the top of Barclays will take responsibility for systemic abuse. "Shareholders, the owners, have a major responsibility here. I am bringing in legislation to strengthen their control over pay and bonuses, through binding votes, but shareholders have to get a stronger grip on weak boards and out-of-control executives." Shareholders have already opposed the pay package of Sir Martin Sorrell, the head of advertising giant WPP, while Trinity Mirror boss Sly Bailey and Aviva's chief executive Andrew Moss quit following opposition from investors. Some shareholders were also unhappy with the remuneration package offered to Tesco's senior management in light of the supermarket's recent performance. Cable says he is determined to encourage "cultural change" throughout the system. He cites the takeover by the not-for-profit Co-operative Bank of a large chunk of the Lloyds bank network as a model for a future system. More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/30/vince-cable-shareholders-bank-cheats