Barclays is reportedly planning to pay its investment banks an estimated £5bn (€5.8bn) this year despite calls for restraint from Bank of England governor Mervyn King.

The row over banker’s pay in Britain has been reignited after reports Barclays boss Bob Diamond could be in line to receive a bonus package of more than £9m (€10.7m).

Voting opens in Labour’s shadow cabinet elections today, with 49 MPs battling for a place in Ed Miliband’s top team.

Former British home secretary Alan Johnson today ruled himself out as a contender for the Labour leadership, announcing he will back David Miliband in the upcoming contest to succeed Gordon Brown.

Formal negotiations between Labour and the Liberal Democrats resumed in the House of Commons today, as the parties struggled to form a viable government five days after the UK general election.

The Tories left power-sharing talks with the Liberal Democrats today, declaring “further progress” had been made towards deciding if David Cameron could seal a deal to take him to No 10.

Gordon Brown today returned to Downing Street amid warnings from Labour MPs that his position as Prime Minister was becoming increasingly untenable.

Even though Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has given his blessing to David Cameron to seek to try and form a government in the UK, the two parties are unlikely to strike a deal.

David Cameron was today offered the keys to 10 Downing Street, after Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said that the Conservatives had the “first right” to seek to form a government in Britain’s first hung Parliament since 1974.

David Cameron is “happy to talk” with other parties to ensure Britain gets a “strong and stable” Conservative-led British government, a senior Tory said today.

Gordon Brown returned to 10 Downing Street today without any clear indication of whether he will be able to remain there as British Prime Minister.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was fighting to keep Labour in power today by tempting the Liberal Democrats into a coalition government as Britain seemed set for a hung parliament.

It was “immigration, immigration, immigration” as the ghost of Gordon Brown’s campaign gaffe haunted tonight’s TV debate between prime ministerial hopefuls.

GORDON Brown’s campaign suffered a self-inflicted blow yesterday when he was forced to apologise publicly and in person after branding a pensioner “bigoted”.

Labour fought back today against charges that it has not been straight with voters over public finances after an independent economic think tank warned Britain was heading for cuts on a scale unseen for a generation.

Peter Mandelson today issued a warning to straying Labour voters who are considering voting Liberal Democrat – flirt with Nick Clegg and you will end up married to David Cameron.

GORDON BROWN today urged voters not to put Britain’s “fragile” economic recovery at risk by entrusting control to his “novice” rivals.

TORY leader David Cameron laughed off being hit by an egg while out electioneering yesterday, dismissing it as the “first of the campaign”.

Gordon Brown will seek today to focus on the economy as he tries to claw back the initiative in the British General Election campaign from the resurgent Liberal Democrats.

Three former UK cabinet ministers have been suspended by the Labour Party over allegations they were prepared to use their position to influence government policy for cash.

Motor giant Nissan is to build its new electric car in Sunderland, it was announced today.

Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester could be in line for a bonus of up to £1.6m (€1.82m) this week despite the bank's predicted hefty losses, it was reported today.

British Chancellor Alistair Darling today ruled out imposing a US-style levy on British banks propped up by the taxpayer despite anger among many Labour MPs at the return of huge City bonuses.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was today facing the prospect of a dramatic challenge to his leadership after two former Cabinet ministers issued a call for the issue to be resolved "once and for all".

General Motors expects to axe around 10,000 jobs across Europe as part of its restructuring of Vauxhall and Opel.

National strikes by British postal workers will go ahead tomorrow and Friday after hopes of reaching a last minute deal collapsed.

A walkout by British postal staff in the capital was starting today amid the spectre of a much more crippling national strike.

THIS was billed as Gordon Brown’s “make or break speech — the most crucial speech of his political life”. His performance at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton yesterday, we were told, would decide whether he would cling on to the premiership or start the grisly process of his removal from power.

British car giant Jaguar Land Rover is to close one of its UK plants in changes outlined to workers today.

Hopes were building today for a swift economic recovery after a swathe of encouraging signs suggested Britain was already on the road to growth.

THE British Government came under fresh pressure to reveal details of its dealings with Libya yesterday after claims by the son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi over the Lockerbie bomber.

Both the British and Scottish governments are facing acute pressure over the release of the Lockerbie bomber after the most stinging criticism yet of the move.

Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been asked to investigate the collapse of MG Rover after a four-year probe into the Midlands car maker’s demise, it was confirmed today.

Controversy regarding British membership of the euro was reignited after it emerged that UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said it was "obviously" still an objective of the Government.

The president of the European Commission threw his hat into the ring for a second term in office today – and national government lobbying for top jobs in his new team has already begun.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband insisted today that the Labour leadership question was “settled” as ministers sought to draw a line under failed attempts to oust Gordon Brown.

Sir Alan Sugar today said he had accepted his peerage and new role as the British government’s enterprise tsar for “the need of the country”.

Thousands of workers at Vauxhall in the UK will have to wait to see who is being lined up as the carmaker’s new owner after a key meeting ended today with no decision.

The British government will lose hundreds of millions of pounds on its plan to part-privatise the Royal Mail because of the timing of its controversial proposals, a new report claimed today.

The Bank of England delivered a slap-down to British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson today over his comments that it needed to move faster to improve car financing schemes.

The climate change protester who threw green custard over the UK's Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has been arrested, Scotland Yard said today.

Ulster Bank today set up a £250m (€281.4m) Regional Fund to support small and medium sized companies in Northern Ireland through this year.

The Indian owners of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have agreed to pump “tens of millions” of pounds into the luxury car brand to prevent a cashflow crisis, it was reported today.

The Bush administration was today considering an “orderly” bankruptcy as a way of dealing with America’s beleaguered car industry.