Piers Wehner

Mary Portas, Alan Bennett and Dame Joan Bakewell have launched a fight against planning changes which “threaten to destroy” communities.

Labour’s plan to impose a tax on homes worth more than £2m will have a catastrophic effect on charitable donations, warns a Labour peer.

The departing president of the National Trust, Sir Simon Jenkins, has attacked the prime minister for presiding over the destruction of the countryside.

The National Grid will invest £500m to tear down some of the ugliest and most obtrusive pylons which blight some of the nation’s best countryside.

Preston Hall, the former estate of Henry VIII’s mother-in-law near Aylesford, Kent, is to be turned into 36 luxury apartments by Weston Homes.

Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s president, was caught in a fresh storm yesterday over claims of corruption involving his private residence.

Overwhelming demand from investors has allowed West Coast private equity group Hellman & Friedman to amass nearly $11bn for a new fund.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, with Canada’s Brookfield, is preparing a multi-billion pound takeover of Canary Wharf owner Songbird.

The big four banks could be forced to sell thousands of branches after the Competition and Markets Authority dismissed warnings of the cost.

Labour’s proposed mansion tax could suck 4% of the value out of homes worth over £2m according to a report by Savills.

Britain’s ‘invidious’ business rates system is stifling investment and must be reformed, according to Britain’s biggest business lobby group.