As David Cameron begins an EU offensive on tax avoidance, Oxfam accuses the Government of hypocrisy in its approach. 8:11am UK, Wednesday 22 May 2013.

Britain will be advised to sell off the state's holdings in the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a move that will embolden George Osborne as he attempts to justify his economic strategy.

LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. power utility SSE PLC (SSE.LN) Wednesday posted 1.41 billion pounds ($2.14 billion) in full-year headline profits, a more-than-5% increase over the previous year, and it raised its dividend by 5.1%.

Falling prices at the petrol pumps led to a bigger-than-expected drop of 0.4 per cent in the consumer price index in April, the first easing in the annual rate of price rises for six months.

Royal Mail is expected to unveil a huge jump in annual profits this week as it clears the way for a �3billion stock market flotation later this year.