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General Motors CEO Dan Akerson. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

General Motors’ chief executive plans to tell lawmakers that he believes politics motivated a U.S. government investigation of battery fires in Chevy Volts.

In testimony prepared for delivery at a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, Dan Akerson said it appears the Volt became, perhaps unfairly, a surrogate for election-year politics and commentary on GM’s business and Obama administration policy.

President Barack Obama has heavily promoted electric vehicles like the Volt, and his administration oversaw a U.S. government bailout and bankruptcy restructuring of GM in 2009. Full Article…

THE latest dispute between the Food Standards Agency and the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers broke out this week following the publication by the FSA of a number of meat plants that gave cause for concern.

Three of the eight plants listed on the FSA website under this category are based in Scotland – John Scott Meats, Basildene Ltd and Alsihia Ltd.

The FSA’s assessment is based on a number of factors including hygienic production, environmental production and concerns over the process within a meat processing plant.

A spokesman for SAMW, whose membership covers most of the meat processing plants in Scotland, said they had no issue with openness or keeping the public informed.

But they described the listing on the website as “shoddy and provocative” as well as being extremely unprofessional.

Both organisations were at pains to point out that the listing and the description of “cause for concern” did not relate to the quality of the meat.

The FSA stated that if there were any risk to public health, it had legal powers to stop production immediately but SAMW said the fact the meat from these plants remained fit for human consumption was not made clear in the web listing.

“The real fact is that these plants have been asked to make improvements,” it said. “The language u

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McDonald’s latest marketing campaign was supposed to deliver social media praise via the hashtag #McDStories. Instead, in a classic example of the risks of Twitter-based advertising, tweeters with a much snarkier intent commandeered the effort.

The campaign started out as a wholesome, feel-good exercise. There were two hashtags, #McDStories and #meetthe farmers, that launched Thursday and were intended to highlight the fast-food giant’s commitment to fresh produce and meats.

Initially, tweets came in warm and fuzzy, like this one fromMcDonald’s itself: “When u make something w/ pride, people can taste it,” – McD potato supplier #McDStories.”

But then more Twitter users got wind of the campaign and began offering their own, usually backhanded interpretations.

To wit: “I only eatMcDonald’swhen I am ill because it makes me feel sick anyway. #McDStories,”

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PORTLAND, Ore. — BMW of North America is voluntarily recalling nearly 89,000 Mini vehicles because of a water pump malfunction that could cause a fire.

The company says in a regulatory filing Monday that the water pump that cools the turbocharger in some of its cars has a circuit board that can malfunction and overheat. That could cause smoldering and potentially a fire.

No accidents or injuries have been reported. BMW will replace the pump at no cost to owners.

The recall applies to 2007-2011 models of the Mini Cooper S, 2008-2011 Cooper S Clubman, 2009-2011 Cooper S Convertible and 2011 Cooper S Countryman. It also includes the 2009-2011 models of the Mini JCW, JCW Clubman and JCW Convertible.

Nick Clegg has called for a John Lewis economy. Not a Primark economy (everything made in China), not a Currys economy (the people in charge have no idea what they’re selling), nor a Harrods economy (run by someone who believes the Duke of Edinburgh murdered his would-be daughter in law – sorry, wrong, that was the previous owner.)

The Lib Dem leader wants an economy based on the practices at John Lewis, known to its fans as “Johnny Lew”, so that the people who work for a firm have a stake in its success. John Lewis employees (or “partners”) get a cheque every year, the size depending on the profits the firm has made.

What a great idea for Britain! The government would have to run a surplus so that early in December every taxpayer would get cash back. T

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A Belfast judge ruled today that businessman Seán Quinn was not entitled to file for bankruptcy in Northern Ireland.

This follows a legal challenge by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, the former Anglo Irish Bank, which claimed he should be declared bankrupt in the Republic, where it is seeking to recover billions in debt from the businessman.

The bank had argued that the 65-year-old’s “centre of main interest” is south of the border.

Mr Justice Donal Deeny, sitting in the High Court in Belfast, ruled in favour of the bank.

When he successfully sought bankruptcy status from the Belfast court in November Mr Quinn claimed that he was operating from an office in Co Fermanagh.

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