A landmark victory for Revenue & Customs to deny wealthy investors £117 million in tax relief has ushered in a new era of intolerance towards tax avoidance by the rich. Eclipse 35, a film investment partnership whose members include Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, was barred from claiming tax relief on a complex £1 billion deal with Disney. If the 2007 scheme had succeeded, each of the 289 members of Eclipse 35 could have enjoyed an average of £404,000 in tax relief on a personal investment of £173,000. Other investors included Sven-Göran Eriksson, the former England manager, as well as bankers, chief executive officers and hedge-fund managers. The decision of a tax tribunal could have a wide-reaching effect on dozens of other film schemes as well as other investments designed to achieve high tax reliefs, experts said. It comes after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in a £1.5 billion tax avoidance case last May involving a software company called MCashback. In recent years, money has poured into finance schemes offering high net-worth individuals tax savings through investments from clean energy to software and marine salvage. But the rulings show that the tide is turning, as courts reflect Parliament’s growing disdain for “tax mitigation” schemes. “The Revenue are winning a lot more cases than they’re losing now, and that pattern is accelerating,” one senior ta

The worst roads for cycling in Britain are revealed today in the first national audit by cyclists and drivers, compiled by The Times. Road safety experts described the network as “not fit for purpose” after more than 10,000 people highlighted junctions, roundabouts or stretches of road across the country as unsafe. The blackspots were identified as part of The Times’s “Cities Fit for Cycling” campaign, which aims to improve cyclists’ safety and identify and improve dangerous junctions. Cyclists and drivers from all over the country have together highlighted 4,010 junctions, 2,778 stretches of badly designed road, 1,453 poorly built cycle lanes and 1,360 roads afflicted by dangerous pot holes. Road safety professionals, motoring organisations and cycle groups this evening urged the Government and local authorities to take heed of the findings and rebu

Global markets were shaken last night by the spectre of political chaos in the heart of the eurozone. The collapse of the Dutch Government and a record showing by the National Front in the French presidential election triggered steep declines in shares in Britain, the eurozone and the United States. Alarming figures showing a sharp fall in manufacturing activity in Germany, the region’s best hope for economic recovery, added to the sell-off. Political developments fanned fears that an uneasy consensus behind the German-led fiscal compact, signed at the end of last year, was fraying amid a widening backlash against austerity and the euro itself. The FTSE 100 slid 1.9 per cent to 5,665.57 points, while the euro dropped to a 20-month low against sterling as investors dumped euro-area assets. The demise of the solvent but split Dutch administration follows the