Barclays Share News (BARC)

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has given the clearest signal yet that the 45p top tax rate is here to stay, the Sunday Times reports. In comments about the centrepiece of his controversial budget, George Osborne said he was "very happy" with the "competitive" top rate of tax. Business leaders, who almost certainly all pay the top rate of tax, have reacted with dismay to the news, which the Sunday Times speculates is likely to please the Liberal Democrat contingent of the coalition government.Simon Walker, director-general of the Institute of Directors, who last month opined that "the level of executive pay at the UK's largest companies has become unjustifiable," claimed that the 45p top rate of tax in the UK "is damaging to growth." Barclays is facing a major shareholder rebellion over the £18m pay package of Chief Executive Officer Bob Diamond, with more than 10% of investors set to vote against the bank's remuneration report at its annual meeting, the Sunday Telegraph believes. Four leading investors ? Standard Life, Fidelity, Aviva and Scottish Widows ? are believed to be preparing to protest against the pay of the chief executive and other senior executives. Between them the four account for 6.45% of Barclays' share register. A number of other leading investors are understood to be ready to support them at the April 27th meeting.Meanwhile, the Observer reports that a powerful alliance of aid groups, charities and arts organisations is launching a full-frontal assault on Treasury plans to limit tax relief for philanthropists, warning that they will have a devastating impact on the culture of giving at the heart of David Cameron's "big society". The revolt - joined by organisations as diverse as Unicef, Macmillan Cancer Support, the National Theatre and the Royal Academy of Arts - comes amid signs of pressure from several cabinet ministers for a swift U-turn.The Observer does have some good news for George Osborne, however, with a leading think-tank predicting that the UK just about avoided slipping back into recession in the first quarter of 2012. The economy grew just 0.1% in the first quarter of this year, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). If correct, its estimate would mean that after a drop in GDP at the end of last year, the UK skirted a recession, which is technically two consecutive quarters of contraction.The Independent on Sunday reports that although the UK's overall goods deficit with the rest of the world is forecast to have edged higher from £7.53bn to £7.65bn in February's figures, data experts will be looking for more signs of a continued drive for business outside Europe, which currently accounts for 40% of the export market. According to the Office for National Statistics, export volumes to the European Union have fallen more than 3 per cent since last August, when the crisis of confidence over debt-laden Italy and Spain was at its height, but during the same period, exports to non-EU countries have jumped by more than 13%. In cash terms, goods sales to China have risen 19% - albeit from a smaller base - while exporters have also benefited from a strengthening US economy as export sales hit £3.7bn.German energy giants RWE and E.on have kicked off plans to sell their UK nuclear power plant joint venture, the Independent on Sunday has learnt. It is understood that they have asked a select number of corporate advisers, accountants and investment banks to come up with ideas of how they would sell Horizon Nuclear Power.Struggling package tour firm Thomas Cook is poised to get a £1.2bn from its lenders, securing the struggling travel group's future just months after it narrowly avoided collapse, the Sunday Times reports.Lenders including Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays are close to approving a refinancing, but will extract a punishing price for the new loans, including the right to take a chunky stake in the company and to charge hefty one-off fees. City investors are demanding that the world's third largest supermarket chain, Tesco, abandon plans to conquer US, the most lucrative market in the world. Several big shareholders told The Sunday Times they were concerned about the loss-making American operation, Fresh & Easy. It has racked up trading losses of £500m and consumed £800m of investment since its launch five years ago. One top 10 shareholder blasted Tesco's venture into America as "a disaster". The fund manager said: "They have racked up hundreds of millions of losses. It was a brave move but, after identifying the strategy wasn't working, they should have pulled back faster."James Murdoch and the British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) board were warned "a number of months ago" about evidence of illegal email hacking at Sky News but did not make a public announcement because they said the police had already been informed, senior sources at the broadcaster have disclosed. The Telegraph reckons some News Corp investors are said to be concerned that the hacking contagion could spread to BSkyB from News International, BSkyB's major shareholder. One close observer said it would have been better if BSkyB had made the announcement about the hacking when the board was first told. BSkyB has launched a wider inquiry into operations at Sky News and has said it has found no evidence of wrong-doing.JH