Government

LITRG has joined forces with a group of charities, led by Citizens Advice, to challenge the Government over £16 billion of unclaimed benefits – including Tax Credits.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for heavier regulation for offshore tax havens as part of global plans to tackle the banking crisis.

Last week, the prime minister told the Scottish Labour conference there must also be internationally agreed standards to end the "short-term banking bonus culture". He also said that there should be assistance for countries unable to restructure their own banking systems.

Proposals for reform will be put to the forthcoming G20 summit of the world's leading nations in London.

He told the conference, in Dundee: "What makes me angry is that good people, hard-working people are being squeezed by banking mistakes and that's why we need the urgent clear-up and clear out in our banking system."

Setting out his proposals for reform, the prime minister said it was time to establish a "global framework for international supervision".

It was time, he said, to bring tax havens and the shadow banking system "into the regulatory net".

The prime minister's conference speech came just days after he urged the US congress in Washington to push for economic change.