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It can also be revealed that Mr Lithgow is the same Adrian Lithgow who, in May 2007, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment and threatening behaviour towards a Yugoslavian railway worker.

The incident occurred late one night at London's Victoria station, when he launched a barrage of abuse towards the railway employee in ending asking: "have you got a work permit?" Once the situation became more heated a manager was called, and Mr Lithgow proceeded to throw a hot pasty at the staff members tried to poke one with an umbrella and then grabbed the manager around the throat. He was fined ￡ 60, ordered to pay ￡ 400 in compensation and an additional ￡ 60 in costs.

At the time, Mr Lithgow was head of communications for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) - for which he contested the seat of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton upate in the 2005 general election.

Unsurprisingly, this period in his life does not feature in his online resume on LinkedIn, the networking site. Instead he notes that since September 2006 he has run George Berkeley PR, a public relations company is in legal work. The company is the same George Berkeley which has been retained as the paid-for PR company representing LAN. LAN is run as a not-for-profit campaign, but members are required to stump up a joining fee of as much as ￡ 293.75, rising to ￡ 300 from January 1.

Given LAN claims to have more than 3,500 members, its total membership due - when all paid up - could currently exceed ￡ 1 m.

According to LAN's guiding "Rules, Case, Methodology" document, George Berkeley will be paid a total of ￡ 50 more VAT per member obstet action group, phased through different stages of the campaign, with the full amount only payable if compensation is won.

Mr Lithgow told last Monday's London meeting that the group needs 25,000 to 30,000 members to fund the necessary litigation, implying a potential ￡ 1. 5 m windfall for George Berkeley, 90pc of the shares of which are controlled by Mr Lithgow and wife, Amanda.

However, Ms Beer, a consumer champion in her own right, who is not being paid for her services, believes that the commercial nature of the group is the only way to bring an action, p. hundreds of letters she has had from Lloyds shareholders who have called it "their lifeline".

"This is a professional group of people who are being paid to bring an action," she says. "It's nothing more deceitful than that." "It's paying for services." Of Mr Lithgow's potential compensation, she said: "Position he hasn haven't been paid anything." He's now taken something. "But it's not going to make him millions."

However, when contacted by The Sunday Telegraph, Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion who has spoken at a LAN meeting, said she was not aware of Mr Lithgow's recent past or the possible remuneration. But said she did not wish to how further.

Mr Lithgow told The Sunday Telegraph that he does not own any Lloyds shares himself. But he did say that his wife Amanda - with whom he spends most of the year in their home in the Dordogne, southern France - is a Lloyds shareholder, as is his mother. His mother, Jillian Timmis is the 76-year-old chairman of LAN. Although her face and her name adorn its website, there is no apparent reference on the site that she and Mr Lithgow are related.

The trio - Mr and Mrs Lithgow and his mother - sat on the interim committee of LAN, which recruited the various service providers, including George Berkeley, unelected and set the payment charges.

In October, LAN members were asked to consider standing for election to the committee, however, after a lack of applicants, four new members were earlier this week automatiquement co-crisis on to it, alongside Mrs. Timmis who remains in place.

The other two members of the interim committee - who, along with Mr and Mrs Lithgow have now stood down - were Wynne and Lucille Edwards from Reading, who stand to benefit because of their interest in the company running LAN's administration and website.

eSystems Case Management will be paid ￡ 100 per member in the initial investigation stage alone, meaning that if LAN recruits the 30,000 members Mr Lithgow said publicly he is aiming for, it could make at least ￡ 3 m more further fees if the box is eventually successful.

Some 51pc of eSystems case management's shares are owned by eSystems and 49pc by eSystem administration.

In spite of exhaustive searches at Companies House, the ultimate beneficiary of eSystems could not be established this weekend.

However, it is clear that eSystem administration is controlled by Lucille Edwards - owning 100pc of its shares - meaning the couple stand to net just less than half the potential ￡ 3 m. No. mention of Ms Edwards's involvement in eSystems is made apparent on the website.

In its latest newsletter, LAN points out that in spite of the contracts in place, the "service providers" - which include George Berkeley and eSystems Case Management - have not taken payments in order to aid the group's cash flow. But Mr Lithgow confirmed that they are still owed the amounts and have not waived them.

Chris Hulme, who sits on the board of the UK Shareholders' Association UKSA) and cochair of is its Northern Rock action group, believes that some of LAN's practices are unusual: "One of the key things we've found is that a large amount of [the] membership of these groups are pensioners, and they simply can't afford to pay huge amounts in fees."

Instead, the UKSA has recently attempted to piggy-back institutional shareholders - with SRM and RAB in the case of Northern Rock - developing seal box. He also criticised the lack of apparent openness from LAN, with members given only an email address to put questions or address concerns, when the UKSA board provides the investing public with its home and mobile phone numbers.

But his biggest criticism is LAN's claim that shareholders have to be part of the group in order to benefit from a successful action: "If the test case is won, it would be easily replicated if based on the same case law;" I don't think that precludes shareholders from taking the same action. "The potential is that all of Lloyds' could benefit shareholders."

Mr Lithgow and LAN's raft of legal advisers do not agree, however, with solicitor Jim Rai, of Winckworth Sherwood, telling Monday's meeting that investors are taking a "big chance" by not coming into the group. LAN has now set a cut-off date of April 1 next year by which time members must join up, with more recruitment roadshows planned for the new year.

"The more members there are, the better that the group can afford the insurance to protect the members." "It's not because they're trying to bind to them, it's trying to have force and strength of numbers," added Ms Beer, who said that while she would love to spearhead a non-commercial Lloyds campaign, she does not believe such a campaign is possible under the UK legal framework.

Mr Lithgow said: "there's been two years of solid work that has gone into this, work that is providing an opportunity for people to find justice in a very sophisticated and very complex case." He also points out that if the group wins its case, all fees paid will be recoverable costs. "When you mentioned what George Berkeley, the firm may be able to earn, I hope it does but that depends, I think it's unlikely," Mr Lithgow said.

It remains very much the case, however, that no LAN accounts have yet been published in spite of the potential ￡ 1 m-plus the association has collected so far, with no clarification as to how much money the group has available to take on "Britain's biggest bank robbery" gold how exactly it is being spent. "This is a professional group of people being paid to bring an action" among simply cannot afford to pay huge amounts in fees. ""

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More than half of business managers also admit that they have no experience in dealing with trade union activists, who could exasperate industrial if they have handled poorly, dispute a survey on human resources action 301 (HR) managers by Croner Consulting, seen by the Sunday Telegraph revealed.

The news comes after the BBC strike forced the broadcaster to cancel a number of its radio and television vendredi.Le declutching caused further changes planned pension programs disturbance Saturday with more action scheduled for this month and during Christmas.

This is the last in a series of hot disputes over pay and ways of working, including current tube - that last Wednesday caused disturbance to thousands of commuters - and continues to strike, fire threat strikes strike action which has been called off the coast on late night but could resurface if peace talks collapse.

Unions warned of coordinated strikes and campaigns of mass disorders to combat ￡ 81bn package Government spending cuts, leading to fears that strike strike one in five organizations next spring.

Carol Smith, senior consultant at Croner, said: "it is for many professional HR feel underprepared to deal with trade union activity, despite predict could have a significant impact on their organizations."However it is not surprising since it is long since we were in a similar economic climate.?

Official figures show that in the 12 months to August 2010, some important workers left on an industrial dispute at the United Kingdom.It is almost double 151,000 employees who participated in the previous year, according to the national statistical office strikes.

Unite the union claimed the strength of feeling towards strikes among workers in the public sector is set to intensify cuts expenses begin to translate into redundancies in departments and agencies gouvernement.Un raft of job cuts were announced the week last overall advice including up to 1,855 Warwickshire and 350 roles in Rochdale.

The IWC has requested a revision of the right to strike the United Kingdom, to make it more difficult for workers marcher.Une main proposal consists in ensuring that at least 40pc of voting strength are in favour of keystrokes before the action can move forward when pursuant to changes, recent tube - drew support from members of the RMT - Union election 33pc strike would not spent in advance.

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WASHINGTON – Global stock markets staged an explosive rally Thursday, embracing a move by the Federal Reserve to try to rejuvenate the U.S. economy by buying $600 billion in Treasury bonds.

The Dow Jones industrial average reached its highest point in more than two years, and stocks surged from Tokyo to London.

Elsewhere around the world, economic dominoes began to fall: The dollar sank. Oil prices surged. And Asian countries raised fears that their currencies would rise relative to the dollar, making their exports more expensive.

And some fretted about the prospect of financial instability in Asia and other regions. But stock investors, at least, celebrated the Fed's move.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the bond purchases would drive down interest rates on mortgages and other borrowing. That could get individuals and businesses to borrow and spend and aid a U.S. economy stuck with 9.6 percent unemployment.

Two developments, in particular, seemed to cheer investors: In announcing its $600 billion bond-buying program, the Fed left the door open to further action later. And in an opinion piece published Thursday, Bernanke envisioned higher stock prices as part of "a virtuous circle." He defined it this way:

Lower interest rates on loans will encourage companies to borrow and expand. Cheaper mortgages will let more people buy or refinance. Higher stock prices will boost the wealth and confidence of both individuals and businesses. Spending will rise, lifting incomes, profits and economic growth.

"A light bulb has gone on" in investors' heads, said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist at IHS Global Insight. "They're thinking: 'Maybe this will work.'"

The response to the bond-purchase program, dubbed "QE2" because it's the second round of what's called "quantitative easing," was powerful. It cut across all corners of global financial markets:

? Stocks jumped 2 percent in London, 1.9 percent in Paris, 1.6 percent in Hong Kong, 2.2 percent in Tokyo. The Dow Jones industrial average hit its highest level since August 2008, rising nearly 220 points to 11,434. Lower interest rates could spur economic growth and also make stocks more attractive compared with Treasury bonds with puny yields. In India, stocks hit a record.

? The dollar sank to a nine-month low against the euro and fell against the Japanese yen and the British pound. The Fed's bond purchases flood financial markets with dollars, diluting the dollar's value against other currencies.

? Oil prices jumped $1.73 to $86 a barrel. Foreign buyers were attracted to oil because it's priced in dollars. Demand for oil tends to rise when the dollar's value falls, because it becomes a bargain for buyers using other currencies.

? Gold prices hit a record high on fears the Fed's move will unleash inflation. Investors often seek sanctuary in gold, a tangible asset, when they fear that rising prices will erode the value of money.

? China and other countries warned that the Fed risks destabilizing the global economy by printing more dollars, the currency of international commerce. "So long as the world shows no restraint in issuing reserve currencies such as the dollar ... the outcome will be what knowledgeable Westerners dread: Yet another crisis is inevitable," Xia Bin, an adviser to the People's Bank of China, wrote in a commentary.

? Developing countries in Asia complained the money generated by the Fed purchases will join a flood of cash already pouring into the region in search of better returns. That money is pushing up their currencies and hurting their exporters. They also fear that a flood of new dollars will fan inflation, cause price bubbles in stocks and other assets and destabilize their financial systems.

As the Fed's new program drives down yields on U.S. Treasury bonds, many investors will shift money to other countries or riskier investments, such as stocks, that offer better returns.

Rising asset prices can be rewarding, at least in the short run. But over time, they raise the danger that speculators will drive prices of stocks, real estate or other assets so high that a crash, like the U.S. housing bust, becomes inevitable.

That fear is growing in Asia and elsewhere.

"These countries say, 'We cannot even absorb our own savings,'" says Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at the investment firm Brown Brothers Harriman. "Now we've got to handle the world's savings?"

They also worry that the "hot money" flooding into their economies will vanish once global investors find another fad to sink their money into. That would burst any bubbles in stocks or other assets, just as in the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

In the United States, stocks have been rallying since late August, when Bernanke announced in a speech in Jackson Hole, Wyo., that the Fed was prepared to do more to spur economic growth if necessary.

Fed leaders think Wednesday's action will be the equivalent of a three-quarter-point reduction in the Fed's benchmark interest rate. In normal times, cutting that benchmark rate by three-quarters of a percentage point could give the economy a healthy jolt. But that option is unavailable now because the Fed has already pushed that rate near zero.

Even if the Fed succeeds in reducing long-term interest rates, that doesn't mean banks will automatically ramp up lending.

Mortgage rates have already touched a record low without reviving the housing market. Banks have tightened lending standards, so fewer people qualify for loans. Even consumers who do qualify are reluctant to take on more debt. And businesses are reluctant to borrow to hire and expand until they're confident the economy will pick up.

In making the $600 billion in bond purchases, the Fed essentially prints money. It doesn't increase the debt the Treasury Department sells. Rather, the purchases expand the pool of buyers for that debt by adding the Fed to the mix.

Mindful of the weak U.S. economy and high unemployment, some want the Fed to do more, not less.

Joseph Gagnon, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former Fed official, was unimpressed by Wednesday's announcement: "This is a small step in the right direction," he says. "But I view it as timid."

He would like to see the Fed buy twice the $75 billion in bonds that it plans to buy each month. He also suggests the Fed stop paying interest on money that banks have parked with the Fed. That might force them to step up lending.

The Fed made a big impact the first time it announced quantitative easing, in March 2009. Its purchase of $1.7 trillion in government bonds and mortgage securities calmed markets still jittery after the financial crisis of 2008. It sent the Dow soaring 16 percent over the next seven weeks. And the recession ended that June, economists say.

Among those who worry about the risk of inflation or speculative bubbles is Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Hoenig dissented from the Fed's latest move for those reasons.

Bernanke discounts such fears. In his opinion piece Thursday, he expressed confidence that the Fed has the tools to soak up the extra money when the time comes, without harming the economy.

"We have made all necessary preparations, and we are confident that we have the tools to unwind these policies at the appropriate time," Bernanke said in the article published in The Washington Post.

___

AP Business Writers Jeannine Aversa and Martin Crutsinger in Washington, Joe McDonald in Beijing and Sandy Shore in Denver contributed to this report.

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Small business consultants has filed an official complaint to the Secretary of the company and EU with Lloyds TSB to break the law authorities refusing to cash a cheque for ￡ 7,156 Cuban business.

Bath of Barrie, President of Fertecon base Tunbridge Wells, said yesterday: "I find incredible that a bank controlled by the State is something which is contrary to the Loi.Il is damaging our activities and probably thousands of other small enterprises UK export efforts."

Lloyd's told the Bank has revised its approach to deal with countries submitted to the Government and international sanctions "to better protect customers, its business, its inhabitants and its reputation."

Keiron Walsh, a senior commercial service of the Bank told Mr. Bain: "Unfortunately we cannot offer advice on alternative for your payment arrangements."

The block on the cheque has highlighted fresh changes quietly introduced by banks to avoid soiling regulations infringed its trade against Cuba.Le UK sanctions nor the European Union has similar blocks on trade with Cuba, but the importance of the US market has seen banks United Kingdom to fall in line.

Lloyd's already felt the weight of the u.s. regulatory authorities, forced to pay 350 m $ in January last year after having been accused of assist clients in Iran, the Libya and Sudan to avoid sanctions United States. Sanctions power exercised by the United States was also on display when Barclay was fined for the month of August to break the US reportedly sanctions from business dealings with persons related to Cuba, Iran Libya, Myanmar and Soudan.La British Bank has agreed to pay a m $298 fine covering commercial transactions valued at $ 500 million.

The result is that Barclays told customers it is no longer a company with ties to Iran Korea North, Myanmar and sanctioned Sudan areas. ""Our policy of sanctions also includes a ban on transactions involving anyone or any entity on United States, A [UN], UK or EU sanctions list," said the Bank.

Lloyd's defend its action on the Cuban cheque. "Lloyds takes its responsibilities regarding the application of sanctions seriously and recently reviewed our approach to these countries and entities that are subject to the Government and international sanctions worldwide to better protect our customers, our business, our people and our reputation.?

Mr. Bain, which specializes in the provision of advice on agricultural markets, such as fertilizers and 95pc overseas business has undergone an intensive trade restrictions, since the cheque has been blocked a week ago and said to his research work have shown that virtue of the law the interests of the protection of trade and the status of blocking of the European Union "is illegal payments block of Cuba.

It has been said by Business Department Vince Cable that no order has been made pursuant to the commercial interests Act making it an offence to comply with the extra territorial legislation from another country - laws aimed at countering the U.S. restrictions under the terms of the Helms-Burton Act in 1996.

But Mr. Bain discovered there is room for the Department to consider an investigation if a complaint is made on the refusal of a bank to process a transaction with Cuba.

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