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Business Secretary Vince Cable today launched the fifth annual Apprenticeship Week.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has today welcomed the appointment by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Norman Lamb as Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs.

Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, John Hayes, today launched an independent review to investigate ways to improve the professional status of the further education and skills workforce.

Responding to The National Audit Office Assessment of Adult Apprenticeships, published today, John Hayes, Minister for Skills said:

"Unprecedented investment, backed by tough new measures to ensure that quality matches quantity, has helped make apprenticeships the gold standard vocational qualification.

The Business Secretary Vince Cable has received 32 bids from across the UK wanting to host the Green Investment Bank (GIB).

A new, two-year pilot scheme, launched today will provide a boost for growth by helping businesses speed up the process of patent applications in the UK and the Canada.

A new programme that will provide dedicated and structured coaching support for up to 10,000 high growth potential businesses a year has taken another step forward today. The Coaching for Growth Consortium has signed a contract to deliver the programme, which is scheduled to be fully operational by March 2012.

The importance of advanced manufacturing in growing the UK economy is the focus of Vince Cable’s first visit to Northern Ireland as Business Secretary today (31 January).

Business Secretary Vince Cable and Universities Minister David Willetts today announced that Professor Les Ebdon is the Government’s preferred candidate for the next Director of Fair Access to Higher Education.

Final statistics published today show that 457,200 apprenticeship starts were delivered in the full 2010/11 academic year. This represents a 63.5% increase on 2009/10 figures. Growth took place at all levels of learning, for all age groups, and across all sectors and all regions.

Commenting on the latest UCAS application figures, Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said:

“The proportion of English school leavers applying to university today is greater than ever before, barring last year. It is encouraging that applications from people from some of the most disadvantaged backgrounds remain strong, with only a 0.2 per cent decrease.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has launched the fifth annual Apprenticeship Week, and it is set to be the biggest they with over 500 events across the country celebrating the countless achievements of learners and employers.

O2 has today announced plans to inject connectivity into British businesses, with the launch of ‘Flying Start’, the company’s largest offer created specifically for business between 1-2000 employees.

With 'National Apprenticeship Week 2012' next week, Theo Paphitis, former apprentice and retail expert, is calling on UK companies to continue to invest in apprenticeships and training despite the economic slump.

If you are looking to grow your company you need to build it in such a way that it can handle the gowth - just growing without the right foundations will inevitably lead to disaster. One of the most important areas is staff.

As businesses look to stimulate growth in an economic environment still dominated by the downturn, innovation matters like never before. Today there is no simple or single recipe for success so collaboration takes on an increasingly important focus.

Richard Close, CEO at Briggs Equipment, the UK’s leading independent service provider and materials handling equipment supplier tells us what inspires him and what advice he would give to anyone wanting to start out in business.

The UK’s largest independent membership network for women in business, everywoman, is inviting entries for the 2012 Specsavers everywoman in Retail Awards.

Controversy over the City’s rewards structure has been well documented, but few have researched whether or not pay incentives actually work. Here, the Nic Fleming tackles the bonus debate head on…

A new programme that will provide dedicated and structured coaching support for up to 10,000 high growth potential businesses a year has taken another step forward as The Coaching for Growth Consortium has signed a contract to deliver the programme, which is scheduled to be fully operational by March 2012.

Ben & Jerry’s are calling for socially responsible entrepreneurs to make themselves known for their latest competition, Join Our Core, which encourages entrants to put their business ideas forward for the chance to scoop a €10,000 cash prize, mentoring and the opportunity to see their name on tubs of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

Inflation in the UK has fallen to 4.2%. Get the full data over time - and see how it compares to pay
• Get the data

UK inflation dropped to a six-month low of 4.2% in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed today - down from 4.8% for November 2011.

More precisely Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation stands at 4.2% for December. When looking at this drop it is important to remember that in September this year, when the CPI stood at 5.2%, it had never been higher in recorded history.

The Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation stands at 4.8% down from 5.2% in November.

There are some important differences between these two main ways the ONS use to measure inflation. The government prefers the Consumer Price Index, which also includes services, housing, electricity, food, and transportation, but the Retail Price Index covers more items. The RPI includes housing costs and is used for many pay negotiations and used to be used for pension payments. We've included both here - just click on the links on the spreadsheet. You can get the full list of items in the inflation basket here.

We have also added in pay data - and you can see how inflation is racing ahead of average earnings.

We have gathered all the data for inflation since June 1948. Let us know what you can do with this data.

Download the data

DATA: UK inflation since the 1940s - CPI and RPI
INTERACTIVE: how we visualised the data

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The Greek government must tell the European Union later today whether it accepts the terms of the €130bn rescue package, as talks with its creditors falter

7.45am: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the eurozone financial crisis.

Today is deadline day for Greece, which must tell the European Union whether it accepts the terms of its second bailout, worth €130bn. The heads of its three largest political parties spent the weekend locked in talks, but are still divided.

One leader – Laos's Giorgos Karatzaferis - has already refused to endorse the painful package of spending cuts and tax rises. Can PM Lucas Papademos pull a deal out of the fire?

Athens is also still struggling to reach a deal with its private creditors over its debt restructuring package – adding to fears that Greece might fall into bankruptcy.

On the economic front, the latest German factory order data should be released this morning, showing how its manufacturers fared at the end of 2011.

Head of Iowa company that makes Crucial and Lexar products killed in crash of experimental plane just after takeoff

Steve Appleton – the chief executive of Micron Technology, which makes products under the Lexar and Crucial brands – has died in the crash of an experimental plane he was piloting.

The image that Appleton, 51, cultivated as a stunt pilot and off-road rally driver became the perfect metaphor for his wild, 18-year ride as the leader of the company, where stomach-churning swings from billion-dollar profit to billion-dollar loss required the constitution of a business daredevil to survive.

Appleton died on Friday morning when his plane crashed at the Boise Airport, west of Micron's desert campus. The company one of the largest and most influential employers in the state of Idaho.

Micron makes semiconductor chips for computers, mobile devices, cameras and other devices. In its latest fiscal year, which ended on 1 September, Micron earned $167m (£106m) and had revenue of $8.8bn.

Appleton was no stranger to plane crashes, surviving at least two earlier wrecks including one in 2004 that left him seriously injured. He was the only person aboard on Friday when the small Lancair crashed shortly after its second takeoff attempt in Boise, according to safety investigators.

Appleton was known as a driven competitor in a volatile industry. Away from the office, he channeled that energy into high-octane hobbies, pursuing his passions as a stunt pilot, off-road racer and scuba diver.

"He lived life to the fullest, and while he enjoyed great success in business and in life, he never lost his intensity or his drive," Idaho governor Clement Otter said in a statement.

In the wake of Appleton's death, Micron's board of directors headed to Boise for a weekend meeting to discuss the company's next steps. Micron spokesman Dan Francisco said company president and chief operating officer Mark Durcan would take on Appleton's responsibilities until the board appoint his successor.

Corporate governance experts raised questions in the past about whether Appleton, as CEO, should be engaging in a hobby as risky as stunt piloting, but Micron's board accepted it as simply part of Appleton's work-hard and play-hard personality.

The company's shares have traded between $3.97 and $11.95 over the past year, and shares were up 23c at $7.95 Friday before trading was halted for the announcement.

"Steve's passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large," Micron's board of directors said.

Betsy Van Hees, an analyst from San Francisco's Wedbush Securities, always figured Appleton had the ideal persona to lead an upstart from the wilds of Idaho in the turbulent global memory industry. People must be thrill-seekers to be in the computer memory business, especially in recent years, Van Hees said.

"You look at what's happened in the industry over the years, its many ups and downs more downs than ups lately and Steve had stayed committed to that, and to staying in Boise," she said. "It's not a business for the faint of heart."

Crash investigators say Appleton hadn't filed a flight plan and by all indications planned to stay in the area for a recreational flight on a clear, sunny morning.

Air safety investigator Zoe Keliher, from the National Transportation Safety Board, said the crash happened during Appleton's second attempt to fly that morning.

She said Appleton's first takeoff ended abruptly witnesses said the plane only got about 1.5m off the ground when he landed and returned to a hangar for about five minutes.

Keliher said witnesses reported that the plane then returned to the runway to take off again, but Appleton almost immediately told the tower he needed to turn around and re-land. His plane was about 30m or 60m in the air before witnesses say it crashed and caught fire.

Investigators planned to look for any evidence of equipment failure, pilot error or other problems. Airport spokeswoman Patti Miller said the aircraft was a fixed-wing prop plane Lancair, which is built from kits.

Planes like the Lancair have caught the attention of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is in the midst of a study of their safety. Last year, the agency investigated 222 experimental and amateur-built plane accidents in which 67 people were killed. More than half involved planes that were bought used rather than having been built by the current owner.

In 2004, Appleton sustained a punctured lung, head injuries, ruptured disk and broken bones after his stunt plane crashed in the desert east of Boise.

He didn't immediately reveal the severity of injuries he sustained in that crash, and at the time a Micron spokesman described Appleton as only sustaining some "bumps and bruises." But in 2006 a corporate governance expert began questioning disclosures about the crash.

Appleton's death came one week after Durcan announced plans to retire in August. Mark Adams, Micron's vice president of worldwide sales, was named to succeed Durcan.

News of Appleton's death sparked an outpouring of homage from Idaho leaders, with Otter lauding him as a champion and visionary businessman who "understood the value as well as the cost of excellence".

Appleton had his business administration degree from Boise State fresh in hand in 1983 when he took a low-level job at the new high-tech startup, Micron. His starting wage on the chip fabrication line was just $4.46 an hour, but it wasn't long before Appleton was promoted, and promoted again 11 times in all.

By 1991 he was the youngest-ever chief of a Fortune 500 company, serving as president and chief operating officer of Micron. In 1994, he was appointed to the position of chairman, chief executive and president, though he dropped the president title in 2007. He is survived by his wife, Dalynn, and four children.

Appleton owned several different types of aircraft and frequently flew in air shows. He had a penchant for other adventures, too.

In 2006, he won the 20-car Baja Challenge Class of the SCORE Tecate Baja 1000, completing the 1,685km run from Enseneda to La Paz in 25 hours and 25 minutes, 30 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.

At the time, Appleton said he wasn't worried about putting himself and his executive team behind the wheels for the pounding, often brutal race over rough and remote terrain.

"I don't know what could be worse than being in the memory business for risk-taking," he said. "If we were in some stable, monopolistic business, I'd probably get objections from my executive staff about doing this, but they're all dying to go."

Connie Hedegaard says GDP model of growth causes overconsumption, drives up commodity prices and ignores the environment

The world must use a landmark environmental summit this year to change forever the current damaging model of economic growth, Europe's climate chief has warned, or face future crises as severe as the one currently enveloping the eurozone.

Overconsumption of critical resources, and the rising prices of key commodities such as food, energy and natural materials as a result, risk derailing the world economy – but these problems will not be tackled unless today's economic models are overhauled, according to Connie Hedegaard, EU commissioner for climate action. That is because judging economic growth purely on the basis of production and consumption, as happens now, encourages rampant overconsumption and fails to value the natural environment.

"The 21st century must have a more intelligent growth model, or else it's really difficult to see how we feed 7 billion people now and 9 billion people [by 2050]," she said. "Resources were cheap before, but it seems we are in for a period where resources become more and more expensive. Oil is coming up in price, so many other commodities are coming up in price. Food prices are rising. We need to deal with this."

Heads of state and government from around the world will gather in Rio de Janeiro this June, two decades on from the 1992 Earth Summit that kickstarted the process of a global treaty on climate change. But there is a risk the Rio+20 gathering will fail to come to any solid conclusions, according to Hedegaard. If this year's summit is to have the far-reaching consequences of its predecessor, countries must seize the chance to sign a firm resolution to change the way growth is measured, she said.

That could involve moving away from GDP to broader measures of wellbeing, and putting a value on natural resources rather than regarding important assets such as clean water, clean air and biodiversity as free, as current economic models do.

"This is an opportunity to rethink [how we measure growth]," Hedegaard told the Guardian. "The knowledge is out there, the analysis has been done. We can take this decision in Rio."

Current models of growth prize only consumption and production, rating countries' performance according to their GDP.

However, there is a growing belief among some economists that this long-standing model has outlived its usefulness, and provides no protection for the natural world. The Nobel prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz has been one of the leading voices calling for a change, and world leaders including David Cameron, the UK prime minister, have heeded the call, promising moves towards a broader definition of economic value.

"This has a lot of relevance to the euro crisis," said Hedegaard. "We're trying to make it clear that the climate change crisis is an economic crisis, a social and a job crisis – it should be seen as a whole. If we do not tackle these, we will be in crisis mode for many, many years."

Recent fears over many key commodities have heightened as prices have failed to drop despite the financial crisis gripping most of the developed and some of the developing world. For instance, the tightening supply of rare earth minerals may threaten the future of renewable energy technology, business leaders were told at the World Economic Forum in Davos recently.

Hedegaard was one of the signatories to a report last week from the UN secretary-general's high level panel on global sustainability, which will feed into the Rio+20 summit in June. In the report, the panel urged the UN to put in place sustainable development indicators that would help to ensure growth does not come at the expense of the environment.

The report, called Resilient People, Resilient Planet, was given a mixed welcome by development charities. Sarah Best of Oxfam said: "The panel's report is a welcome rallying cry for the vision of a sustainable, fair, and resilient future that Oxfam fully shares, but... it's weak medicine for such a life-threatening diagnosis. World leaders will need to do better when they meet at the UN summit in Rio in June."

She said the panel had failed to make concrete recommendations on reforming food supply, and had little to say on finance.

Alison Doig of Christian Aid said: "The report describes the enormous and unsustainable exploitation of planetary resources underpinning the last decades of economic growth, and also shows that this is only half the story. The other half is the astonishing inequality in the distribution of the benefits of this irresponsible natural asset-stripping. The wealthy 20% of the world currently consumes 80% of natural resources while the poorest 20% do not have enough for a decent standard of living. It is critically important to deal with these twin crises – unsustainability and inequality – together."

"Let one man's shame be a symbol for all" was the Daily Mail headline. Likewise, one Facebook page has a petition to shame Fred Goodwin into giving up his pension. And Shame is, of course, the title of Steve McQueen's new film about sex addiction.

So how valuable is shame as a means of changing behaviour? According to the American social critic Christopher Lasch, the trouble with modern culture is that we have lost "the shared social and legal boundaries that shame one policed." This is why a number of legal theorists have argued for the shaming of criminals as an alternative to prison or financial penalties. There is little transformative potential in simply paying a fine as if one were just paying an unwelcome bill, they argue. This sort of punishment is just too anonymous. Shaming criminals, on the other hand, makes a very clear public statement about right and wrong. Those caught urinating in public ought to clean the streets with a toothbrush. Those who pick up prostitutes should have their names published in the newspapers. According to several thinkers, shame is a valuable way to reinforce social values.

But all of this makes me feel deeply uncomfortable. For the trouble with shame punishments is that they target too much – the whole person rather than simply the act itself. It is surely one role of a liberal state to uphold the intrinsic dignity and humanity of all its citizens. This is the secular equivalent of the Christian idea that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. In the ancient world, criminals often had their crimes tattooed on their foreheads. After his conversion to Christianity, the Emperor Constantine issued a decree that branding be banned: "let him not be marked on the face, so that which has been fashioned in the likeness of divine beauty, may not be disgraced." Both the secular and religious versions of this sentiment are deep sources of resistance to shame punishments. And this suerly applies as much to Fred Goodwin, as to the rest of us.