The "can of worms" that is the Bishop Wright scandal may hold further unpleasant surprises, a leading Scottish Catholic warned yesterday. The Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) criticised a speech by Mr Vaz at a planning conference in Canary Wharf, east London, saying its tone was "disturbing". He told planners, politicians and developers that out-of-town supermarkets were innovative, exciting and ``the best in the world"; Whitehall should not stand in the way of "this retail revolution''. A leading countryside group attacked Labour after its front- bench spokesman, Keith Vaz, said the party was more in favour of out-of- town shopping developments than the Government.

As a result of the deal, Mr Major called off his campaign to use the British veto to block EU business.Yesterday he denied the "beef war" had been in vain but appeared to accept Britain would have to start from square one to negotiate another deal to get the ban lifted.The November target Mr Major set after Florence for the lifting of the ban now stands no chance of being met, and the European Commission expects it to last several years.But EU officials held out an olive branch yesterday, saying they would consider lifting the ban on Britain's proven BSE-free, grass-fed herds, found mainly in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.. can only be met with perplexity by other European countries." Border controls to keep out British beef would be tightened, he added.Irish reaction was equally robust. John Donnelly, president of the Irish Farmers Association, called the move "a major political blunder". It was "an absolute disgrace that Britain, which created the BSE problem, was deciding not to co-operate with the slaughter policy. The UK government seems to be playing politics with the livelihoods of farmers right across the EU."At the Florence summit Britain agreed to slaughter an extra 147,000 younger cattle as part of a programme leading to the lifting of the ban on the export of British beef. Mr Kinkel said: "The main priority is the health of the consumer.

The ban on importing British cattle, beef and other products will remain in force."Mr Hansch said: "If the British abandon the Union's internal solidarity, when they don't respect decisions taken together, then they do not belong in the Union."Philippe Vasseur, the French Agriculture Minister, said: "The unilateral decision ... John Major yesterday ignored a storm of European protest over the Government's decision to abandon its undertaking to slaughter extra cattle, urging an end to "hysteria" over BSE. Ministers decided on Thursday to shelve the deal agreed with other EU countries at the Florence summit in June, after Conservative MPs said they would not support the cull order in a Commons vote. The Prime Minister, in his Huntingdon constituency, denied Britain had torn up the Florence deal: "It was perfectly clear within the Florence agreement that if new evidence arose, we had to consider that evidence. Against: early ones tricky, expensive to fix, difficult to work on, yuppie image, thieves' favourite.Rover 3.5 Coupe, 1967-73, pounds 7,500For: coach-built opulence, lush trim, great ambience, strong V8 engine, comfort and refinement. In addition, some low-income families would receive it at a higher rate.Mr Brown refused to give any details of the income levels above or below which support would be affected, but he made it clear that millionaires would not receive the allowance: "I cannot justify a situation where, if I represent the hard-working taxpayers of this country, the son or daughter of a millionaire who sends his or her child to Eton or to another private school can claim child benefit when half of the rest of the children in the country, half of the rest of the mothers of teenagers do not receive it," he said.. Labour yesterday abandoned for the first time its support for the principle of flat-rate state benefits paid regardless of people's income, in a significant step towards greater targeting of welfare spending.

Gordon Brown, the shadow Chancellor, announced that a Labour government would take away child benefit from better-off mothers of sixth-formers and pay more to mothers on lower incomes. The conclusion of Labour's controversial review of child benefit for the 16-18 age group fell some way short of making "tough choices" about the welfare state, as Mr Brown claimed when it was launched four months ago.But it represents an important victory for the shadow Chancellor, according to his supporters, who say he is determined to challenge "old shibboleths of the left" about how to achieve a fairer society.Child benefit between the ages of 16 and 18 is not strictly a "universal" benefit, because it is only paid to the mothers of young people in full- time education - about half the age group.The shadow Chancellor was joined yesterday by David Blunkett, education and employment spokesman, and Harriet Harman, social security spokeswoman, to launch jointly the plan - Equipping Young People for the Future - which was presented as redistributing resources from rich to poor, with the objective of encouraging more young people to stay on in full-time education.Child benefit for the 16-18 age group would continue to be paid to parents, but would be renamed an "education allowance" and restricted to "middle and lower-income families". Laugh when they asked about Mexican tortillas and you had not a hope.Business in politics, page 5The men from McKinsey'sNorman Blackwell, head of No 10 Policy UnitAdair Turner, new director-general of the CBISir John Banham, former director-general of the CBIHoward Davies, ex-CBI chief and now deputy governor of the Bank of EnglandDon Cruickshank, Oftel regulatorPeter Ford, chairman of London TransportWilliam Hague, Secretary of State for WalesArchie Norman, chief executive of Asda and aspiring Tory MPBob Worcester, chairman of MORIStephen Brandon, director, British GasJonathan Fry, managing director, Burmah CastrolGeorge Feiger, head of investment banking, SBC Warburg. The volume is one of the most exclusive networking books in the world, listing contacts for 3,500 people who once worked for McKinsey.A guide to the sort of people they were looking for can be gleaned from their emphasis on numeracy and a serious approach to life. If they are not promoted, they will be shown the door.But even ex-McKinsey employees will automatically be listed in a directory circulated among the firm's old boys and girls. Acquiring membership of what is fast becoming the best-connected club in Britain is mind-bogglingly difficult.

At job interviews this year, star graduates from the world's best business schools were asked questions such as: you have just discovered a microbe that can reduce the water content of potatoes by 1 per cent - what is its economic value? Or, how many tonnes of tortilla are eaten in Mexico each year?Would-be recruits for the pounds 58,000-a-year junior consultant posts are put through six separate formal interviews and six quasi-sessions with staffers up to senior partner rank McKinsey operates an "up or out" policy. The trust and belonging remain.Recent beneficiaries of the firm's advice - with echoes of John Grisham, it is referred to internally as "The Firm" - include the Tate Gallery, BBC, Kingfisher and British Airways. For those and many other organisations - the firm never publishes a client list - it has devised new strategies, sending in teams to turn the place inside out, to find out how it ticks and what can be done to make it better.The long hours and mind-numbing number-crunching is rewarded by high pay and a sense of getting things done McKinsey is called in by the very top, and is listened to. Today, it is McKinsey, a firm of American management consultants, based in Jermyn Street, in the West End of London, and a network at the top of British life. McKinsey breeds its own priesthood, its own sense of togetherness. Bonded by adversity - they are often unpopular with the junior management of the corporations they are studying - they work together, play together and often marry each other.That spirit stays with them, when they are finally lured away on huge salaries to run a company or public institution.