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A computer failure left millions of customers of RBS and NatWest without access to their money for days; a man was held in jail over the weekend because his bail payment could not be traced, and other customers feared that their credit ratings would suffer because of missed payments for mortgages and regular direct debits. Alistair Darling, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, launched the campaign against Scottish independence called Better Together. England was knocked out of Euro 2012 in a penalty shootout with Italy.
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The government introduced, at the instigation of the Liberal Democrats, a bill for a reformed, mostly elected House of Lords. Sir Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England said: ‘I don’t think we are yet halfway through’ the economic crisis. The government cancelled a 3p-a-litre rise in fuel duty due in August, at least until January. Government borrowing in May rose to £17.9 billion, compared with £15.2 billion a year earlier. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, suggested that those under 25 could lose the right to housing benefit, to save £1.8 billion as part of cuts to welfare expenditure, and other savings could be made by limiting the benefits of larger families. South London Healthcare, an NHS hospital trust, was to be put into the care of an administrator as it laboured under debts of £69 million; other trusts were found to be loaded with liabilities through private finance initiatives. A hoard of Celtic and Roman coins from the first century bc, weighing 15cwt and worth perhaps £10 million, was found in Jersey.
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British-born jihadis were making their way to Arab countries for training in terrorism, according to Jonathan Evans, the director general of MI5, who gave a public lecture.
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