Neil Berkett: said Ofcom’s report on broadband speeds ‘only went halfway’ The Virgin Media chief executive, Neil Berkett, has attacked rivals as “grossly misleading” in the way they market internet speeds to consumers. He called on the government to crack down on advertising if it expects the cable company to invest hundreds of millions of [...]

Bricklayers working in Hatfield. The construction industry took a big hit from the recession and expects the outlook to get tougher. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian It was a bright, sunny day when 19 senior executives, each representing one of the government’s biggest suppliers, trooped into Admiralty House off Whitehall to meet the Cabinet [...]

Estimates suggest there will be 50m new mouths to feed every year. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian Hedge funds, with billions of pounds in assets, are recklessly gambling on food prices, with speculators driving massive price volatility that threatens the most vulnerable people on the planet. That’s the view of the World Development Movement [...]

Kingfisher, home to the B&Q DIY chain, is cautious about the outlook for consumer spending in the UK. Photograph: David Sillitoe Shares in Kingfisher, the retailer home to B&Q, are under pressure this morning after it posted falling sales and warned of a tough outlook in the UK. While official data today showed that retail [...]