Catch up with all the top stories from the weekend with our newsround digest.

The Observer
The UK’s manufacturing industry will lose 80,000 jobs this year unless there is a cut in interest rates, according to research by the Trades Union Congress. The Bank of England monetary policy committee is expected to keep rates on hold at their meeting on Thursday but the TUC is urging it to block borrowing costs to prevent the continued decline in the manufacturing sector.

Energy consumers will face rises in their bills of up to 25% in the coming months, according to British Gas. The rise will be the biggest hike since domestic bills began increasing in 2003 as energy companies responded to wholesale gas prices.

Sunday Times
Britain would be £10bn better off if the Channel Tunnel had never been built, according to a study by a former employee at the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). The study, an ‘ex post economic evaluation”, was conducted by Ricard Anguaera when he was at the SRA, which has since by subsumed by the Department for Transport. The report calculates that total costs to date of the Tunnel have been £12.7bn, while the total benefits have been £6.3bn. Once the losses from backers have been subtracted the value is minus £10bn.

There are rumours circulating that Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne is about to land another movie role, after his debut, School for Seduction in 2004. The gossip says that he is set to land a part as a gangster-cum-property tycoon, however so far the health club boss has denied any involvement or knowledge in the project.

Sunday Telegraph
Shares in Google, the internet search company founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, could rise to as much as £2,000, according to a leading analyst. Caris & Co, a US Stockbroker, said that Google shares, which closed at a record $465 last week after the company unveiled its online video library, had the potential to keep on climbing with the launch of digital services.

Office, the fast growing shoe retailer, will post a rise in pre-tax profit of ‘at least’ 50% for the year to February 1 following strong sales and a buoyant Christmas period, according to Sir Tom Hunter, the group’s founder. The Scots entrepreneur now plans to open a further 20 new stores this year, pre-tax profits are expected to be at least £3.6m up from £2.4m last year.

The Mail on Sunday
The Conservatives have vowed to take on late-paying firms and champion small business under David Cameron’s leadership. Mark Prisk, the party’s new spokesperson for small business, said Cameron’s recent pledge to ‘stand up for small business’ included a commitment to stop large companies leaving smaller firms out of pocket by failing to pay invoices for months at a time. Previously, the MoS had revealed that small suppliers to Halfords might not be paid for up to four months under planned changes to the payment terms of the chain.

More than one worker in five is now employed in the public sector, new figures are expected to show. The figures due out on Friday will show that the number of public sector employees rose to nearly 6m during the third quarter of 2005.