Nationwide, Britain's second-largest building society, dramatically raised the stakes in the home-loan price war yesterday as it announced it was slashing its interest rates to a 30-year record low of 6.99 per cent. Instead, Mr Clarke told Labour's Treasury spokesman, Andrew Smith, the word "intentionally" should have preceded "misled".The terse letter from Christopher Muttukumaru - authorised by Sir Richard - to Ian Lang, President of the Board of Trade, protested sharply at ministers' partial repetition at a press conference answer a week ago in which Sir Richard said it was a "fair summary" to say that there had been "no conspiracy and no cover up" over arms-to-Iraq.The judge - now Vice Chancellor of the Chancery division - asked Mr Muttukumaru to point out to Mr Lang that he immediately added that "any soundbite answer, any summary one-line answer is bound to be a distortion of what I have taken care to express in the report".The sharpness of the note, sent to Mr Lang's Principal Private Secretary, John Alty, underlines what is believed to be the increasing annoyance felt by Sir Richard and inquiry staff at the aggressively partisan way in which the Government has presented the findings.Sir Richard's letter was sent soon before John Major again told the Commons in an answer to the senior Liberal Democrat Malcolm Bruce that "Sir Richard has agreed that there was no conspiracy, no cover up". Sir Richard's unusually blunt rebuke forced the Government back on to the defensive in the increasingly bitter inter-party row in the run-up to Monday's crucial Commons debate on the report. It is understood that St Anne's Head was a potential blind spot for the port authority's radar.The authority maintain this would have little bearing on the ship's ability to take itself safely into the harbour. (The oak tree was Shakespeare)"I'm sexual in the way that Tony Hopkins is We can create an erotic charge rather quickly It's so much more erotic ... He said: "It is with these two gentlemen that we shall find the problem."The pilot has been identified as Captain Jonathan Arnold, and the Russian master was Eduard Bolgov.The Government yesterday ordered a widening of the inquiry into the Sea Empress disaster to include salvage operations, as Sir George Young, Secretary of State for Transport, was accused in the Commons of "appaling complacency".Disclosing that he had asked the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents to extend the scope of his investigation, Sir George said it was "all too easy" to criticise the salvage efforts from the comfort of an armchair or studio. The pilot on board the Sea Empress tanker when it ran aground off Milford Haven had radioed the port authority with an urgent message to say the vessel had lost steerage minutes before it ran aground.

After holding out on our own for so long, America has just joined the war on our side."Both said they were reviewing their own rates and promised announcements in weeks. The move means the monthly cost of a typical pounds 50,000 loan has fallen by about pounds 55 since last summer, including yesterday's reduction, worth pounds 17. Brian Davis, the society's chief executive, yesterday held out the promise of further cuts if the Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, reduces base rates in two weeks. A Home Office statement said Mr Howard had been advised he had no legal grounds for rejecting the Parole Board's recommendation - Mr Clowes had served a third of his sentence and was entitled to be considered for freedom.Outside the High Court 52-year-old Mr Clowes made a pledge to the men and women he had cheated that he would do everything he could to repay their losses, now that he was free. Above the allotment is a massive, an incredibly beautiful oak tree" - of her lambasted 1988 TV show, Thompson. His resignation letter, passed to the Independent, sent a blunt message to John Major: "Loyalty has its limits." He became the third MP in recent months to desert the party and his decision casts an immediate shadow over the Government's hopes of winning Monday's crucial vote on the debate on the Scott arms-to-Iraq report. It sounds as if we should be prepared for a few more military terms to creep into our management-speak..

The Government's continuing discomfort over the Scott report was dramatically heightened last night, as Tory MP Peter Thurnham resigned, leaving the Government's majority at just three in the run-up to next week's crucial Commons debate on the arms-to-Iraq affair. Earlier, following a meeting at Downing Street, Mr Thurnham appeared to have bowed to pressure from party chiefs to reconsider his position over the weekend. But later, after "reflecting further" he decided to go ahead and resign. Mr Thurnham's resignation represented a hammer blow to Government efforts to hold the line over Scott, as Sir Richard expressed irritation over the Government's presentation of his report and two more Tory MPs warned that Mr Major could not count on their support.

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Sir Richard broke his silence to rebuke ministers for quoting him "selectively" in their defence. His blunt intervention forced the Government back on to the defensive in the increasingly bitter inter-party row.Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor, had already admitted that because of a "drafting error", the government press pack - issued on the day the report was published - wrongly claimed William Waldegrave, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, had been found by Sir Richard not to have misled Parliament.Instead, Mr Clarke told Labour's Treasury spokesman, Andrew Smith, the qualification "intentionally" should have preceded "misled".The terse letter from the secretary to the Scott inquiry, Christopher Muttukumaru - authorised by Sir Richard - to Ian Lang, President of the Board of Trade, protested sharply at the "selective" use by ministers of only part of an answer given by Sir Richard at a press conference a week ago.Ministers had relied upon Sir Richard's phrase that it was a "fair summary" of his findings to say that there had been "no conspiracy and no cover-up" over the sale of arms-to-Iraq.But the judge - now Vice Chancellor of the Chancery Division - asked Mr Muttukumaru to point out to Mr Lang that after this phrase he had immediately added: "Any soundbite answer, any summary one-line answer is bound to be a distortion of what I have taken care to express in the report."The sharpness of the note, sent to Mr Lang's Principal Private Secretary, John Alty, underlines what is believed to be the increasing annoyance felt by Sir Richard and inquiry staff at the aggressively partisan way in which the Government has presented the findings.Meanwhile Quentin Davies, a member of the Commons Treasury Select Committee and the MP for Stamford and Spalding, startled some MPs at the weekly meeting of the 1922 Committee by expressing strong concern over Sir Richard's findings that Parliament had been misled by repeated answers over arms exports.Mr Davies last night met Alastair Goodlad, the Tory Chief Whip, to discuss his concerns.