Companies prosecuted under new corporate manslaughter rules fear bad publicity almost as much as fines that could reach 10 per cent of annual sales, according to a survey published by a leading law firm on Monday.The Norton Rose research says companies would rather face the financial penalties than a “publicity order” forcing them to detail their crime to investors, suppliers or the general public.

Less than 15 per cent of organisations have signed up to the employer skills pledge, one of the main planks of the government's strategy to raise the standard of British workers, according to an independent survey of more than 700 employers published today by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.Efforts to curb government spending were also starting to hit public sector training with 45 per cent of public employers reporting a cut in training budgets in the past 12 months.

Artificial colourings could be removed from hundreds of food products after researchers found that they may be almost as harmful to children's development as leaded petrol.

New evidence has shown children's lives are being put at risk by a surge in the use of controversial tranquillising drugs which are being prescribed to control their behaviour, the Guardian has learned.

The supermarket chain Asda wants overseas suppliers excluded from a new code of conduct which is designed to ensure that the big grocers do not use their buying power to impose unfair trading terms.

The way in which the £73bn clean-up of Britain's nuclear sites is funded is unsustainable and in urgent need of reform, the government is warned today. More taxpayers' money is also likely to be required to finance the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), according to the cross-party business and enterprise committee of MPs.

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