Wednesday Papers: Lambert to join trade envoys - other news

Financial Times

* Richard Lambert is to become a British trade ambassador under a revamped scheme to promote the UK among leading overseas trading partners.

* Britain’s energy minister has sought to allay concerns that North Sea wind farm operators might lose their leases to make way for oil and gas exploration, saying they could receive financial compensation in such circumstances.

* BP swung back into profit in the third quarter but announced an additional charge of $7.7 billion to help pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, putting the total bill for the accident so far at close to $40 billion.

* Construction purchasing managers index slips to lowest level since February, suggesting any boost to the economy from building work is unlikely to last.

* Eurozone manufacturing growth picked up faster than previously thought last month.

* Royal Mail’s operating profit fell by 72% in the first half of the year to £52 million.

* The coalition will find it difficult to keep to its four-year programme of public spending cuts, say two top former civil servants - Sir John Gieve, former Home Office permanent secretary, and Rachel Lomax, a former permanent secretary of three government departments.

* Ireland’s political and financial crisis deepened as the country’s cost of borrowing hit fresh highs.

* ITV could invest more in arts, factual programming and drama were it not for regulations, its managers told a Lords committee.

* The London Stock Exchange was scrambling to establish how a human error in possibly “suspicious circumstances” had knocked out one of its dealing platforms on Tuesday.

* Shares in Findel fell 24% after the retail conglomerate warned that it was experiencing delays in important contracts, and said it would adopt more conservative forecasts that would axe £7 million from full-year profits.