Southern Cross has identified 47 care homes that it wants to hand back to the landlords, almost immediately and a further 85 homes that it would wish to pull out of over the coming five years ( see this morning's FT for more on this).

BBC: Southern Cross��s future to be decided by banks

The Lisbon Treaty paves the way for limited co-operation and defence policy between those member states that wish to do so, however British Conservative MEP Charles Tannock raised concerns over how this could impact on existing agreements with the USA and NATO.

BBC: Security and Defence Committee