BoE set to cut growth forecast - papers

The Bank of England is today expected to lower its economic growth forecast for the UK and raise its expectations for inflation next year.

The revisions, expected in the Bank's quarterly inflation report published later today.will reflect the decision to increase VAT to 20% next year, the BBC reports.

Downward revisions to growth forecasts may fuel fears of a double dip recession in the UK.

In May, the Bank predicted growth of 3.5% in 2011 and forecast inflation to fall below its 2% target next year.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects growth of 2.6% next year.

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Aviva refuses blast victim's claim

A man injured in a workplace accident has been shunned by insurance giant Aviva because he failed to pay his weekly insurance premium from his hospital bed, the Daily Mail reports.

Joe Greensmith has been locked in a three-year battle with the insurer after it refused to pay out for the injuries he suffered when a pipe burst at work.

The accident left him with minor brain damage, memory loss, needing his upper left jaw reconstructed, and more than £30,000 of dental work.

Aviva rejected his £130,000 insurance claim as he had not completed his timesheet for the week he was injured in April 2007.

For the previous two years, his £2.30 personal injury insurance premium had been deducted from his weekly pay packet.

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Barlays Capital to slash jobs in cost-cuts

Barclays Capital is planning to cut up to several hundred employees following a sharp fall in market activity in the second quarter, the Financial Times reports.

Sources close to the bank say the job losses, which could be announced today, will be spread across back office and administrative functions which support BarCap businesses such as sales and trading.

News of the cuts is likely to alarm the City as well as Wall Street, where BarCap has a sizeable presence following its acquisition of the US operations of Lehman Brothers at the height of the financial crisis.

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