"This company is flourishing in public ownership, as the recent doubling of profits proves. It's becoming less clear what this policy is about. Why privatise this profitable company? Today's ballot result shows we have resounding support for all the union's policies. This is a strong message to take forward action in each area to improve the working lives of postal workers and protect the services and jobs which customers and communities value."

CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: "This ballot result is a damning rejection of the tired old Government privatisation policy and the actions of the Royal Mail board in support of this. Postal workers have worked incredibly hard to turn the fortunes of the company around. Royal Mail is not a financial basket case and they know privatisation is only benefiting vested interests.

"Postal workers are not going to sacrifice their souls for a so-called 10% stake when they know their jobs, pensions and conditions are once again under threat. The Government and Royal Mail have completely alienated the workforce and it's time for serious negotiations to find a solution that really can align the interests of workers, customers and the company. If not, then prolonged industrial conflict is inevitable.

"On a mail boycott, Royal Mail workers have shown they understand the threat to the universal service from unfair competition and the race to the bottom on their own terms and conditions. The way competition is being introduced does not benefit customers, small businesses or postal workers in whatever company they work for."

Royal Mail said it was committed to seeking an agreement with the union on the way forward that equipped the business for the future and was fair to employees, adding in a statement: "Royal Mail operates in a very competitive market and customers can move their business very quickly. This could result in a significant loss of business.

"Royal Mail is required by law to allow access to our network and deliver all the mail we are asked to. Royal Mail is fully committed to the delivery of all of the mail entrusted to us. We have consistently made clear we will take all appropriate steps to prevent any disruption of this. All our employees must continue to handle all mail, deliver to the same high service standards as normal and do the job that they are paid to do, as stated in their contracts of employment."

From August, BT will show 38 Premier League games a season in the first major challenge to Sky's dominance of top-flight football.

The complaint was revealed as the countdown to the new Premier League season began with the release of fixtures.

BT argues that as a new player, it should not have to sell its channels to Sky, but its rival has an obligation to share the channels as the major force in paid-for sport broadcasting. BT added that Sky is discriminating against it because it already allows another company using the YouView box, TalkTalk, to sell Sky Sports.

Ofcom said it will "consider whether Sky has abused a dominant position under UK and/or EU competition law".

The regulator added it will decide by next month whether to grant "interim relief" - which could temporarily give BT access to Sky Sports.

BT currently offers TV to about 810,000 customers over its Vision and YouView boxes. BT is allowed to show Sky Sports over its older Vision boxes, but is moving customers to the more high-tech YouView platform.

Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement and financial crime, said Mr Chadda's misconduct was the "most shocking we have seen from a home finance arranger", adding: "He is a disgrace to financial services. He deliberately misled his clients for his own personal gain and then repeatedly and cynically lied to the FCA.

"Mr Chadda is not fit to work in regulated financial services and he presents a serious risk to customers and lenders alike with his dishonest and unscrupulous actions. The unprecedented level of the fine for a sole trader reflects our determination to deprive him of the gains he made as a result of his misconduct."

The FCA said he also told clients that he would be buying their homes, when the purchases were made by other people, while further misleading mortgage providers unaware that the deals were sale and rent back transactions.

Although the sellers expected to get a discounted price for their properties, they were often charged "grossly unfair and excessive hidden fees" and were also unaware that Mr Chadda was receiving the full price for the properties from the purchasers.

He also made false and misleading statements to the FCA, failed to disclose relevant documents and information and created misleading documents. The FCA said he even arranged for people to impersonate his customers in an attempt to mislead the regulator.

The case has been referred to West Midlands Police.

Of the 46% who will go abroad, 19% will organise their own break rather than choosing a package holiday, 13% will specifically travel outside school holiday periods to cut costs and 5% will stay with family or friends who live overseas.

Of those who feel they cannot afford to go abroad this summer, 22% intend intend to book a holiday in the UK, while 13% will spend their time off at home.

Juliet Strachan, managing partner at HPI, said: "These figures clearly show how the recession has impacted holiday plans.

"Lack of consumer confidence, uncertainty around job situations and increasingly squeezed disposable incomes are forcing people to reprioritise and therefore compromise on their annual holiday.

"While the wider economy might be showing signs of a slow recovery, in reality consumers' own budgets are still under intense pressure, causing holiday-loving Brits to make sacrifices with how they use their time off."

:: HPI polled 1,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 65 in February.

The average salary for a maths graduate stands at £41,568, the research found, while civil engineers take home £41,124. But the study found that some jobs pay much higher than this - and do not require a degree.

Someone working on an offshore oil platform can expect to take home £70,500 a year on average while a commodities trader earns around £60,464 and a firefighter's average annual salary stands at £52,960.

At the other end of the scale, some degree subjects will only lead to relatively low salaries.

On average, a graduate with a degree in hospitality and tourism can expect to earn around £18,996. Art and design attracts an average salary of £19,209 and anthropology an average pay of £21,321.

The research also looked at the types of jobs available as well as their location. It found that IT has the highest number of vacancies followed by engineering and sales.

Adzuna's head of research Flora Lowther said: "With over 2.5 million unemployed and youth unemployment still pushing one million, young people need to be smart about their choices to maximise their employment prospects and the return on their time and money."

He added: "Radical solutions may be required - such as dispensing with disclosure of documents and cross-examination, even with an oral hearing, in smaller cases: better to have a judge's summary decision quickly at proportionate cost, than a disproportionately delayed decision at exorbitant cost, or no decision because it is too expensive to get to court."

But Lord Neuberger warned against reducing access to "judicial review" - a process through which decisions made by ministers and public bodies can be challenged.

"The growth of judicial review since the 1960s reflects the significant expansion of the power of the executive, although it is also attributable to judges who grew up in the questioning 60s and 70s replacing those who came of age in the conventionally respectful 40s and 50s," he said.

"We must always bear in mind that the ability to hold the executive to account is essential to the rule of law: it protects citizens from administrative excess and ensures that the executive adheres to the law. It is equally essential for the maintenance of parliamentary sovereignty. We should take great care in any approach to reduce access to judicial review. It is a small price to pay for a democratic and just society."

Lord Neuberger said the legal profession and ministers had to work to best maintain access to justice within the "harsh realities" of Government finance. He said lessons might be learned from an online dispute resolution system such as that on internet auction site eBay.

But he warned ministers about cutting legal aid provision and said there may be a knock-on effect on court costs. He was speaking to an audience including lawyers, politicians and academics.

Ksenia Zheltoukhova, of the CIPD, said: "The low-skilled jobs market is a battleground for jobseekers, with more than 40 applicants per vacancy, but employers still struggle to find talent that is well qualified.

"Low rates of labour turnover suggests that some workers at the top end of the labour market are staying put in their jobs in these economically uncertain times."

The MPs noted that around 40% of people reclaim benefits within six months of stopping, and around 60% within two years.

"The Department should identify which indicators it will use to ensure it has a full understanding of the performance of jobcentres under Universal Credit and the destination of claimants, and use this information to better understand whether its interventions are delivering a long-term reduction in the number claiming benefits," said the MPs.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge (Barking), who chairs the committee, said: "On its own, the number of people who stop claiming benefits is a flawed measure of how effective jobcentres are. Jobcentres should have a degree of flexibility to deal with local priorities but the DWP does not know enough about what works and why.

"Local flexibility also opens up the possibility that harder-to-help claimants, such as those with disabilities, get 'parked'. The Department needs to look closely at its ability to support disabled claimants, particularly given that these groups suffer poor outcomes under the Work Programme."

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "Evidence from Government that increasing minimum sanctions from one to four weeks encourages people back into work is patchy at best. There is no evidence to show what is gained from stopping people's benefits for a month. What is clear is the hardship it causes. Southwark CAB in London is one of many bureaux reporting that sanctions are helping to fuel a rise in demand for food banks - last April a local provider gave out 130 boxes, this April it was 500. Too many jobseekers have their benefit stopped because they don't understand what is required of them."

A DWP spokesman said: "Every day advisers are successfully helping people move off benefits and into work, and it is welcome that the report recognises Jobcentre Plus is good value for money. We're focused on making sure people get all the help and support they need from Jobcentre Plus to make the move into work, and it is encouraging that employment has risen by over 400,000 in the past year while the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance has been falling for the last seven months."

RBS bosses recently said the bank would be fit for a return to the private sector within a year, but there are concerns the move will be politically motivated ahead of the 2015 general election and may see the taxpayer make losses on its 81% stake. Shares are still significantly below the 500p break-even price for the Government on its £45 billion bail out - currently at around 323p.

The commission said in its report that the current strategy for returning RBS to the private sector "has been allowed to run for five years", but added "it is time to look at this afresh".

A Treasury spokesman said it was a "very impressive piece of work", adding: "There are many recommendations in it which will help the Government's plan to create a stronger and safer banking system. This comprehensive report, produced in less than a year, vindicates the judgment that a parliamentary commission would be swifter and more appropriate than a lengthy public inquiry that others proposed at the time."

He said the Government will support legislation where it is needed, and will amend the Banking Bill currently before Parliament to ensure changes are quickly enacted. He added: "The Government publicly welcomes the Commission's recommendations on increased personal responsibility, especially at a senior level, increased professional judgment by regulators, and better functioning markets. We will now get on with a swift response and will report before the summer recess."

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: "After the global financial crisis and the banking scandals that followed we need cultural change and radical reform to protect taxpayers, rebuild public confidence in the banks and ensure that in future they work to support the wider economy. This report sets out a radical blueprint for change on professional standards, regulation, competition, pay and accountability. It is vital that the Government and the banks rise to the challenge.

"The Chancellor should now get on and implement this report in the Financial Services Bill currently going through Parliament. And he must rethink his refusal to implement some of the recommendations of the Commission's previous reports, including on the need for a backstop power for full separation of the banks. This is no time to duck radical reform. On the future of RBS and Lloyds, it is vital that Government decisions are driven by the best interests of the British taxpayer and the wider economy, not a political timetable. On RBS in particular, David Cameron and George Osborne must resist the temptation for a loss-making firesale at the current share price which would add billions to the national debt. As Stephen Hester said last week RBS is capable of being worth more than what the taxpayer paid."

"For far too long we've built the careers of Labour politicians, only to be let down when we needed them most. I don't want to hear Labour apologising for their past mistakes."

He drew loud applause from delegates when he urged shadow chancellor Ed Balls to decide which side he was on, adding: "Cutting welfare and rivalling Tory spending cuts may win you support in the right-wing press, but it won't win you the last election."

Mr Prentis said he had some advice for Labour leader Ed Miliband, repeating the words of Nye Bevan: "We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road - they get run over."

Mr Prentis reserved his strongest attacks for the coalition, saying that workers were in the "eye of a storm" because of the Government's policies.

"The Tories are using the recession to destroy our welfare state, with no price too high for our people to pay. A scorched earth policy of welfare and spending cuts to shrink our state beyond repair.

"Wages are in freefall, except for those who caused the crisis in the first place, our public services are being savaged and politicians talk about austerity when they mean cruelty and vindictiveness."

He is also likely to order more detailed work on how to hive off toxic assets from RBS into a "bad" bank after a long-awaited report from the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards suggested it could be necessary.

RBS bosses recently insisted it would be fit for a return to the private sector within a year, but there are fears that would mean a big hit for the public purse. Shares are trading at around 320p - still significantly below the 500p break-even price for the Government on its £45 billion bailout.

The commission said the strategy for returning RBS to the private sector "has been allowed to run for five years", but added: "It is time to look at this afresh."

Tory MP Andrew Tyrie, the commission chairman, urged the Government to put "political considerations" to one side and said it must launch an immediate review of the benefits of splitting RBS. Under such a plan, the bank's bad debts would be hived off to free the ''good'' bank to lend more to businesses and boost the economy. Mr Tyrie said: "The current state of RBS creates problems for banking competition and for the British economy. Further restructuring may well be needed. The Government may need to be bold."

Amid mounting concerns over the level of direct Government intervention in the management of the state-backed banks, the commission concluded that UK Financial Investments (UKFI) was increasingly being used as a "fig leaf" to disguise the level of control and should be wound up.

On Tuesday, Mr Osborne denied forcing Stephen Hester to quit as head of RBS, but the commission said in its report the Government has interfered in the running of the two partly state-owned banks, particularly RBS. "On occasions it has done so directly, on others it appears to have acted indirectly, using UKFI as its proxy," it added.

Marketing company Akklaim Telecoms did not respond to the specific complaints or provide evidence that recipients had given their explicit consent to receive the messages.

The ASA noted that one of the complainants had received the messages despite registering with the Telephone Preference Service marketing opt-out system.

It concluded that the messages "implied that it was suitable to use a payday loan for the purpose of socialising" and "would be likely to be understood by recipients as personal messages".

It ruled that the ads should not appear again in their current form, adding: "We told First Financial and Akklaim Telecoms to ensure text message ads were clearly identifiable as marketing communications and were only sent to those who had given explicit consent to receive them.

"We also told them to ensure ads did not imply that payday loans were suitable for spending on a social life."