Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 17th May)

Major UK-based firms cut secret tax deals with authorities in Luxembourg to avoid millions in corporation tax in Britain.
The BBC's Panorama focuses on GlaxoSmithKline and media company Northern & Shell (owners of Channel 5, the Express, OK! Magazine and others). The secret tax deals were devised by accountancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. BBC

It's the same train at the same time, the difference is you've four tickets covering the journey rather than one and the total price drops from £264 to £40, says Moneysavingexpert.
According to Moneysavingexpert.com instead of buying a single ticket from departure to destination, you can save by buying tickets for parts of your journey. "To show how this works, we unearthed this cracking example. For a London to Penzance return, the cheapest ticket was an anytime return at £264. Yet the train stopped in Plymouth, so instead we found four singles. The total cost for those tickets was just £40, a saving of £224:

Phil Clarke, Tesco's chief executive, wrote to 5,000 middle managers warning them annual performance-based rewards would be cut by 80%. Workers are waiting to see if there will be a similar cut in boardroom pay. 

Clarke had his base salary pruned to £1.1m last year, but can still receive a maximum total pay package of £6.9m. DAILY MAIL

Government 'failing to get enough homes built,' leading to rising rental levels, growing homelessness, overcrowding, and a sustained property bubble. Number of completed homes in 2011 less than half what government admits is required annually to meet demand.

A building programme would also be a much-needed and powerful stimulus to economic growth GUARDIAN

Axa Sun Life sell their Over-50s Plan to cover funeral expenses, fronted by TV's Michael Parkinson: guaranteed fixed lump sum on death, no medical required, free Parker Pen! But millions will find it'll pay out less than you paid in. DAILY TELEGRAPH

Care home providers pocket millions as they continue to charge sick residents £700 a week when they are in hospital.  DAILY MAIL

New child benefit plan will be a disaster, says Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Ian Duncan Smith's attempts to simplify the benefits system will make it more complex, and unfair. DAILY TELEGRAPH

Ministers accuse business of not doing enough to revive the economy. Business accuse the government of the same thing, which is why they're holding back. Who will blink first?
Reports in April said large corporates were sitting on a cash pile of £750bn, afraid to spend it because of  all the uncertainty. DAILY TELEGRAPH