How can we solve the land problem in these circumstances?”In the wake of the referendum defeat, President Mugabe has chosen to eat humble pie – a skillful stance, in his opponents’ view. “It has been suggested, quite justifiably that the ‘no’ vote was due to economic hardship,” he said on state television. “This is a voice we must listen to.”Mr Mago believes the people have a new resolve. “We are the bird which has flown up to the owl and discovered it does not have horns, only tusks of hair.”Mr Hungwe sees President Mugabe, who is 76 tomorrow, staying in power “until 2006″ “He stabilises Zimbabwe’s tribe. He is a strong leader – the only man who can solve our problems.” For Mr Chatikobo, the answer lies in the Shona messenger eagles.

With a broad grin, he says: “You can fool the people some of the time, but you can never fool the ancestors.”. Matt Barrett, the chief executive of Barclays, has signalled that the bank may soon make a move to take over one of its main rivals. Matt Barrett, the chief executive of Barclays, has signalled that the bank may soon make a move to take over one of its main rivals.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Independent on Sunday Mr Barrett, who only took the reins six months ago, said there could be “considerable consolidation” in the UK market creating “national champions”. He said there were too many “sub-scale players with narrow product ranges”, a reference taken to mean mortgage banks like the Alliance & Leicester, Woolwich and maybe the Halifax.Mr Barrett added that the competition authorities should take a liberal view on banking mergers because of the speed of change in the industry and the pace of consolidation in Europe.His comments come only a week after Royal Bank of Scotland won the battle to buy NatWest, and follow announcements by Abbey National and the Halifax of new internet banking opportunities.

James Crosby, chief executive of the Halifax, said his company’s “Intelligent Finance” business would target rivals’ customers. He expects the Halifax to grow without acquisitions.Mr Crosby said the Halifax, with the smallest ratio of bran-ches to customers of any of the high street banks, could avoid consolidation: “We are a people business Takeovers turn people off I need them turned on.”. The Financial Services and Markets Bill could be challenged in court unless the Treasury removes a controversial clause on internet regulation which legal experts say contravenes European law. The Financial Services and Markets Bill could be challenged in court unless the Treasury removes a controversial clause on internet regulation which legal experts say contravenes European law.
The Bill, which would replace the Financial Services Act, goes before the House of Lords this week, where Conservative peers are set to attack Clause 19, which extends UK law to any products sold or advertised to British customers over the net.The Treasury has been advised that this clause is not only unworkable, but also breaches the EU directive on financial transparency.

Critics claim it did not even check with Brussels before framing the law.The Treasury had told Howard Flight, the Tory spokesman on financial affairs, that it would remove the clauses, but it backtracked yesterday, saying Clause 19 will stay.However, Martin Pullin, a partner specialising in competition law at City solicitors Dibb Lupton Allsop, is now preparing a challenge. “If clause 19 goes to law, I believe I could open infringement proceedings against the Bill,” he said.Mr Pullin is understood to have financial backing for an action from City firms and a financial information provider.The Treasury’s problems with the Financial Services and Markets Bill is just one of a series of potential traps awaiting the Government as it tries to regulate the internet.The Better Regulation Taskforce, which is part of the Cabinet Office, has identified 60 different initiatives on internet regulation which could lead to 4,000 items of legislation.The taskforce is trying to pull together a co-ordinated approach which will stop these initiatives colliding with each other and with European law.The most high-profile measure is the Electronic Communications Bill, which is due to become law later this year. The Bill covers the creation of digital signatures to verify transactions.The Bill’s more troublesome elements – to do with encryption – were removed after lobbying by the technology industry but some of the measures have reappeared in the Home Office’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill.This would require internet service providers to register encryption codes so that government bodies can read any information. Nicholas Landsman, Secretary General of Internet Services Providers Association UK, said that it is lobbying to be compensated for the extra cost of providing these facilities.. BT is under pressure from shareholders to break itself up in an attempt to arrest its plummeting share price.