The North's Finance Minister’s blinkered approach to the budget is ignoring the dangers ahead, it was claimed today.

BEFORE the events of this week, the last time I had written about Roy Keane was in the immediate aftermath of his shock departure from the Stadium of Light when, amid the general air of gloom and doom on Wearside, I asked that people spare a thought for the owners of a public house in Sunderland who had just been forced to put their business up for sale.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan was tonight urged to reverse last year’s VAT increase as the latest economic figures revealed the recession deepening at the fastest rate on record.

The North's first and deputy first ministers, along with their counterparts from Wales and Scotland, are at talks with the British prime minister Gordon Brown in London today.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy today attempted to restore the Entente Cordiale with Britain after attacking Gordon Brown’s crisis VAT cut as a failure.

UK chancellor Alastair Darling is holding economic recovery talks with his EU counterparts – just days after French President Nicolas Sarkozy publicly slammed Britain’s economic stimulus plan.

Over 50 businesses in the North having trouble paying their tax bills because of the economic climate have been given more time to pay, it was revealed today.

The collapse of a major mining takeover brought the London market back to earth today after the record gain of the previous session.

The rate of VAT in the North is set to fall from 17.5% to 15%, British Chancellor Alastair Darling confirmed in today’s Pre-Budget Report.

ARCTIC weather conditions are expected to continue to cause chaos across Britain over the weekend.