Monday newspaper round-up: UK wages, Tata Steel, UK banks, IAG

The chief architect of the UK’s retail banking reforms has attacked the Bank of England for watering down his recommendations over strengthening buffers at Britian’s biggest banks. Writing in the Financial Times, Sir John Vickers, who as head of the Independent Commission on Banking proposed rules to ringfence banks’ retail operations, argues that recent BoE plans for the largest lenders to build an extra buffer of capital do not go far enough. – Financial Times

Tata Steel’s European boss will join thousands of steelworkers on Monday in a protest against “unfair” practices by Chinese firms, amid rising diplomatic tension with the People’s Republic. Karl Koehler will take to the streets in Brussels as part of a demonstration against what Tata Steel called a “flood of unfairly traded imports into Europe”. – Guardian

Rising house prices across much of England mean a government scheme to help buyers of newbuild property may have made more than £200m for the Treasury in its first two-and-a-half years. The help-to-buy equity loan scheme gives buyers an interest-free loan for five years in return for a percentage stake in their property. When the home is sold, the buyer returns the same percentage of the sale price, meaning that any fall or rise in house prices affects the return. – Guardian

The Chancellor's tax assault on UK business risks undermining the economic recovery, the Confederation of British Industry has warned. Britain's biggest business group said the apprenticeship levy, living wage and the rising burden of business rates amounted to a £29bn raid on companies over the next five years. Unveiling the CBI's Budget submission, Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general, warned the onslaught of taxes in the Summer Budget and Autumn Statement had pushed the economy to a "tipping point". – Telegraph

The boss of British Airways has urged governments to back a United Nations plan to cut greenhouse gases produced by the aviation industry and revealed the company hopes to reduce its own carbon dioxide emissions by 8.5pc. Willie Walsh, the boss of BA parent International Airlines Group, has called on governments and carriers to support a proposal by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for a global deal to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by the industry. - Telegraph

The Treasury may be orchestrating a convoluted staff placement scheme at the Bank of England to keep two of its top civil servants on the career fast track. Speculation has been gathering about plans to make John Kingman chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority, a role that would elevate him to deputy governor of the Bank of England, to clear the way for Tom Scholar to take over from Sir Nicholas Macpherson as the Treasury’s permanent secretary. – The Times

Companies have reported their fastest growth for two years, but supermarkets and the oil and gas industries weighed heavily on an otherwise encouraging performance, according to analysis by the Share Centre. Consumers bought new homes and booked holidays, boosting airlines, travel companies, housebuilders and estate agents. - The Times