Thursday's newspaper round-up: Government, BP, Lloyds

Final coalition agreement may include phasing a cut in the headline rate and alternatives to a sharp cut in the rate of capital allowances originally proposed by the Tories, reports the FT.Chancellor wants most competitive corporate tax regime in G20 by cutting rates and reforming rules driving firms abroad, says the Telegraph.The Times says the chancellor is expected to honour a Tory manifesto pledge to reduce the rate from 28 to 25 per cent in the Budget next month.The chief executive of BP moved to reassure staff that their jobs, pensions and future were still safe yesterday as a new threat loomed over the company ? the possible shutdown of another field in the Gulf of Mexico, writes the Times.The Telegraph says BP's problems mount as the number of followers of a Facebook group called "Boycott BP" grew to almost 34,000.Fresh questions have been raised about Eric Daniels' position as chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group after it emerged that his chairman Sir Win Bischoff recently sounded out Lord Davies of Abersoch, previously the Government's trade minister and a former boss of Standard Chartered, for the role, reports the Telegraph.Land Securities yesterday gave a resounding vote of confidence to London's commercial property market when it announced that it is to massively increase development in the City, writes the Independent.Royal Dutch Shell said yesterday that it is set to spend $2bn upgrading its gas collection facilities in Nigeria's Niger Delta, says the Independent.Two new gas power plants due to be built by E.ON and Scottish & Southern Energy have been put on hold as industrial power demand has not returned after the recession, according to the Telegraph.The offshore renewable energy industry could generate the same amount of electricity a year by 2050 as one billion barrels of oil, using less than a third of the available space, according to a new report by the Offshore Valuation Group, says the Independent.Three of Prudential's top fund managers shared £17 million in pay and bonuses last year, the prospectus for its bumper Asian acquisition reveals, according to the Times.More than 3,200 Vauxhall workers are bracing themselves for a two-year wage freeze, says the Times.An OFT ruling has cleared the way for a controversial joint venture between the UK's leading broadband operators and public-service broadcasters to create an internet-connected successor to Freeview, says the Nine memory chip makers, including the world leader, Samsung Electronics, were fined a total of €331m (£285m) by EU regulators yesterday for illegally fixing prices, reports the Independent.The building industry is showing "tentative signs" of recovery, according to the latest survey of sentiment by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), writes the Independent.Spanish banking giant Santander was suspicious of Bernard Madoff's activities as far back as 2006, internal documents show, according to the Telegraph.Fortescue Metals registered the biggest protest so far against the Australian government's planned profits supertax on the resources industry when it said yesterday that it is considering shelving $15bn (£10bn) worth of projects in the country, says the Independent.