Portrait of the week | 1 November 2012

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Hitachi bought Horizon Nuclear Power for £700 million, giving it rights to build nuclear power stations in Anglesey and Gloucestershire. John Hayes, the energy minister, said that Britain was ‘peppered’ with onshore wind turbines, and ‘enough is enough’. HM Revenue and Customs wrote to families with at least one member earning more than £50,000 telling them they are no longer entitled to the full amount of child benefit. Some 100,000 ash trees had been burnt in an attempt to halt the spread of Chalara fraxinea, a fungus deadly to them, David Heath, the environment minister, told parliament, as import of the trees was banned. The Football Association investigated allegations that the referee Mark Clattenburg called two Chelsea players a ‘monkey’ and a ‘Spanish twat’ during an acrimonious game against Manchester United.

A report by Lord Heseltine into economic growth outside London suggested devolving £50 billion of spending to the regions and increasing co-operation with the European Union. Tory backbenchers rebelled in a vote over the EU budget. The gross domestic product of the United Kingdom grew by 1 per cent in the third quarter of 2012, bringing to an end the recession, according to preliminary figures. Pearson and Bertelsmann said they were confident of merging their publishing houses Penguin and Random House. Cynthia Carroll, aged 55, announced that she was leaving Anglo American after six years as its chief executive, leaving only two women running any of Britain’s top 100 quoted companies. The compensation so far paid by banks for mis-selling payment protection insurance rose to more than £10 billion. Branston pickle was sold to the Japanese company Mizkan for £92.5 million.

The Centre for Social Justice, set up by Iain Duncan Smith in 2004, said in a report that the arrest of 337 known gang members after the London riots last year has led to an increase in violence where younger members filled their places.