Treasury

Chancellor Alistair Darling is understood to be close to temporarily abandoning the Government's fiscal rules rather than changing them when he presents his pre-Budget report later this autumn, The Independent reports.

Alistair Darling's future was in question last night after Whitehall insiders said that he could be involved in an imminent Cabinet reshuffle, The Times reports.

Local councils have called for the Treasury to allow them to offer competitive mortgage deals in a bid to revive the housing market.

The Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers (APCIMS) has urged the Government to build on its simplification of capital gains tax (CGT) in order to stop penalizing long-term share ownership.

Tensions between the Treasury and the Bank of England mounted yesterday as Mervyn King, the Bank's Governor, abruptly dismissed measures being considered by Alistair Darling to end the mortgage drought, The Times reports.

Measures to revive the dormant housing market by increasing the supply of mortgage lending are being planned by ministers, The Times has learnt.

Three consultation papers focusing on how to enhance the competitiveness of the UK's asset management industry have been announced by the economic secretary to the Treasury, Kitty Ussher MP.

Alistair Darling should reject setting up an American-style mortgage agency as a way to give a long-term boost to the crippled housing market, according to Sir James Crosby, the former chairman of HBOS, The Times reports.

Gary Hoffman, vice chairman of Barclays, has been appointed as chief executive of Northern Rock on a basic salary of £700,000.

Business leaders have welcomed a government climbdown on the taxation of companies' foreign profits, but said that there was still more work to do before both sides could reach an agreement that would pave the way for a new tax policy, The Times reports....