Longer debate on company reform
Ministers signalled a climbdown over the Company Law Reform Bill, agreeing to make time for more scrutiny of what will be the largest bill in history. A plan for eight days of debate in the committee stage was voted through, but government business managers indicated that they would come back tomorrow with up to two more days set aside for debate. Conservatives expressed relief, saying that dozens more amendments were being tabled.
Brown challenged
Gordon Brown is facing potential embarrassment over his 1997 decision to scrap dividend tax credits in a heavy blow to pension funds. The freedom of information watchdog has ordered Mr Brown to reveal by early July secret forecasts of the impact from a move that critics partly blame for the pensions crisis.
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Old Mutual cuts
Old Mutual outlined plans to cut 800 jobs, including 600 in the UK, after its takeover of Skandia, its Swedish rival. The jobs, largely among support workers at Skandia’s offices in Southampton, will be shed over three years, many of them “by way of natural turnover”, Jim Sutcliffe, Old Mutual’s chief executive, said.