Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 6th December)

David Cameron ordered to stop saying NHS spending is up

David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt have been ordered to stop claiming that NHS spending has increased after the official statistics watchdog found health funds had fallen. The UK Statistics Authority issued the rebuke after upholding a complaint by Labour about statements by the Prime Minister and other senior Tories. TELEGRAPH
(Blimey. If the UK Stats Authority keeps this up, our beloved leaders won’t be able to utter a word ever.)

Osborne bashes benefits: Increases capped at just ONE PER CENT

The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement means working age benefits will no longer rise in line with inflation, with 60% of families affected. Amid grim economic forecasts, Osborne was forced to admit he had failed to meet his own targets for getting a grip on Britain's debt. A wide range of other changes to tax and spending were announced. But he did say that 'Those with the most should contribute the most, and they will.' DAILY MAIL

(Those with the most should contribute the most, eh? We always thought you were a dangerous left-wing subversive, Mr Osborne.)

£40bn held in Swiss bank accounts by UK taxpayers

A breakthrough tax agreement with the Swiss government comes into force on 1 January 2013. It is hoped that this will flush out £5.3bn in extra tax over the next six years. The UK government admits it may not be able to pin down who, exactly, owns all the money in Swiss banks. It raises questions as to how much is held in other tax havens. Getting British taxes out of a tax haven that is a foreign country is a major achievement. BBC NEWS

(...and getting British taxes out of a tax haven that is a British dependency – which most of them are – is nigh on impossible!)

Top 10% of households are 850 times wealthier than the bottom 50%

A report by the Office for National Statistics reveals that the bottom 50% of households in Britain have just £4,400 of cash, property and pensions compared to the £1.2m held by the top 10%. The total wealth of the UK, including pensions, property and savings, is £10.3tn. The bottom 50% of households own less than one tenth of that, and the wealthiest 10% own 43.8%. GUARDIAN

Loss of income caused by banks as bad as a 'world war', says Bank of England
The financial crisis has been as economically devastating as a world war and may still be a burden on “our grandchildren”, said top Bank of England official Andrew Haldane. He added that public anger at the banks was fully justified and that pay in the industry remained too high. Banks remain one of the major impediments to the recovery because they need to own up to their bad debts to restore confidence and get credit flowing again. TELEGRAPH

(“...Yet most bank executives remain in their jobs? Ve had to run away to Argentina!” said one mystery caller with a strong German accent.)

8 supermarkets sign up to "fairer special offers", but Asda says it could make rip-offs easier
Asda pointed to one of the rules: retailers cannot discount a product for longer than it’s been on show for the higher price. While this is meant to prevent "permanently on sale" offers, it actually encourages a better rip-off: you can sneakily establish a price for a couple of days solely to drop it for the weekend. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Aldi, the Co-op and Lidl have agreed to incorporate the new rules. GUARDIAN
(Said the other 8 supermarkets: “We also found the new rules devilishly confusing,.. but signed the moment Asda cleared things up for us!”)

'Delusional and dishonest': Ex-HBOS bank chief accused of “living in cloud cuckoo land” over bank's near collapse

At the hearing of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards the former HBOS chairman Lord Stevenson was “evasive, repetitive and unrealistic.” It was also revealed that he had assured the City watchdog that his bank was “as secure” as it could be – just six months before it collapsed. Lord Stevenson of Coddenham said he felt “awful” about the bank’s fall and revealed that he thought about it most days. MIRROR

(...whilst on the other days he counted his millions.)