In a way, the Bank almost needs Mr Clarke to make a mistake to underpin its case for independence. It needs to be able to show that electioneering governments get interest rates wrong in order to support the argument for taking that power away from them. But in terms of politics it is important because once the Bank of England can point to a Chancellor making a clear error on interest rates, its own credibility will be enhanced. But if he is not there will be some quite interesting long-term implications for the way monetary policy is run in this country. From a purely economic point of view the odd quarter percentage point off or on base rates might not seem an earth-shattering event. If it does prove unsustainable, they can always stick rates up again.

When Kenneth Clarke last cut interest rates against the advice of the Bank of England he was proved right by subsequent events. But he was lucky that time, as subsequent falls in interest rates abroad and lower-than- expected inflation here validated his judgement. It was as though he had backed a 10-1 outsider which romped home. It is conceivable that he will be lucky again, and I shall explain why in a moment.

I may be wrong but I think our Chancellor has made a big mistake. The Forum was set up to press for substantial cuts in access prices charged by TransCo, the privatised utility’s pipeline arm which is soon to be hived off. Several firms have withdrawn from active lobbying against British Gas to reduce the risk of wider regulatory backlash.A report for the Gas Forum by accountants Arthur Andersen had said that British Gas charges should be slashed by up to 40 per cent. Ofgas had proposed a maximum 28 per cent cut, which would slash its revenues by up to pounds 600m.Consumers stand to benefit from an pounds 8 a year cut in their average bill. British Gas has criticised the move as misconceived and yet another blow, following a review of TransCo’s pricing already published in May.Philip Rogerson, deputy chairman, said the company would continue to fight both proposals and was confident that, if a Monopolies and Mergers Commission referral arose, its stance would be justified.Another industry executive said British Gas’s arguments to date had been emotive “The MMC is not a one-way option. At the last MMC referral in 1993, they took the risk and lost out badly. There must be heads at BG who see a lot of downside.”A spokeswoman for US gas supplier Amerada Hess said British Gas had failed to give a good reason why the Ofgas proposals should be overturned.A source at United Gas said the MMC review would take into account the Gas Forum’s original report, including allegations that BG has failed to account properly for pounds 2bn in revenues earmarked for infrastructure work: “The suggestion is that BG has been using TransCo to subsidise the rest of the group’s activities, including expansion overseas.”.

British Gas and other gas suppliers fear that Ofgas, the industry watchdog headed by Clare Spottiswoode, will seek to extend its remit to gas supplies from the North Sea. The concern comes in the wake of Ms Spottiswoode’s toughening stance that saw consumers’ gas bills cut again last week and previous indications that she would like Ofgas to regulate other aspects of the gas industry.
This follows signs that the Gas Forum, a group of gas shippers, are wavering in their united front against British Gas. Roberto Quarta, the chief executive, is known to have come to the same conclusions about the future automotive consolidation that precipitat- ed the Lucas-Varity marriage.Mr Quarta has successfully restructured BBA in two and a half years at the helm but must now decide to opt for another merger.. However, analysts expect the group to show no spectacular short-term growth and say the combination will be much more attractive – and not much more expensive – to potential predators.BBA, meanwhile, must pick up the pieces. After a week of speculation, BBA finally announced late on Friday that it did not intend to make an offer for Lucas “in the absence of a Lucas board recommendation”.

And Lucas announced that its planned pounds 4bn merger with Varity of the US would continue as planned, citing the compelling industrial logic of combining the two automotive parts companies to create the world’s third largest brakes business.
Lucas also poured cold water on earlier hints it had made that it would sell its aerospace division to provide a “sweetener” to shareholders, who receive neither cash nor a bid premium in its share swap with Varity.BBA sources say it was caught on the hop by a “flushing-out” campaign by Lucas which, they claim, leaked its name, along with that of Siemens and TI, to the media last weekend.While Siemens and TI quickly issued curt denials, BBA remained officially non-committal until the Takeover Panel, the City’s bid watchdog – in response to sharp movements in both Lucas and BBA shares – forced it to admit interest in Lucas before its plans were complete.The Panel has recently been far quicker to force statements out of firms hit by media speculation; BBA’s allegations, however, suggest it may be increas- ingly used as an unwitting pawn by sharp-witted advisers.The weeks events are now thought to have cleared the decks of potential hostile bidders and will allow Lucas to complete the link-up with Varity in September unmolested. It took 22 years to get there, and just four years to reach our second million We hope to achieve our third million in 1998.. BBA launched a bitter attack on Lucas Industries this weekend, accusing it of using unscrupulous leaks and manipulating the Take-over Panel to scupper its bid for the automative parts company. I like to think of that not in terms of money, but as the landmark we passed in 1992 when we served our millionth customer. That attitude served me well, but there were times when I should have taken more of a gamble One was on expanding to other cities. I had a box file behind my desk marked Manchester for eight years before we opened there. And when business boomed in the late 1980s four key people left in one year to set up as competitors because they noticed we couldn’t keep up with the volume of calls.The title of this article is My First Million.