The wealthy are being urged to follow the lead of Lord Sainsbury.

The philanthropic Tory peer has made a £25 million donation to the British Museum, in what could herald a new shift in funding.

The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, called on the rich of Britain to do more to fund the preservation of cultural institutions on Sunday, after the Lord Sainsbury pledge has outstripped government funding on its own. Hunt said that the government did not wish to rely on the generosity of private individuals to fill the funding gap in the culture budget, which has been shaved by 25 per cent, but added that he hoped more like Lord Sainsbury would come forward to help bankroll national institutions.

The donation, which was the largest in Britain since the National Gallery was given £50 million in 1995 by Sir Paul Getty, naturally delighted museum officials who have been anxiously awaiting on news for how to go about managing their own funding cuts.

The money from the donation will go towards a new Lord Rogers-designed £135m exhibition space and conservation centre, which will house temporary, blockbuster shows and play home to specialist conservation laboratories. Popular exhibits, including the soon to be released Book of the Dead show on Egyptian antiquity, are currently displayed in a temporary viewing area inside an old reading room. The government had initially promised to donate 22.5m for the new facility, with around 70 per cent of the funding target now met.

For the third day running, Bangladeshi garment workers have clashed with police over wage rates.

UK fashion retailers such as H&M, Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Zara are among the world’s leading companies that source much of their clothing from the factories in the Southeast Asian nation.

Despite the proclamation of a new, improved minimum wage for garment makers being announced by the government on Friday, union leaders have rejected the deal as being well below what was asked. The government has offered 3,000 taka (£27) per month to workers, almost double the previous minimum wage. The unions are holding out for 5,000 taka (£45) which they argue matches the rising cost of living.

With no work being done, the predominantly female labour force in Bangladesh’s second-largest industry have taken to the streets, where, urged on by union leaders, they have protested with bitter abuse and throwing stones – in some cases bricks – causing authorities to respond with batons and rubber-bullets. Around 80 people have been injured in the latest clashes, which are taking place across the country, taking the total number close to 300. Police have also claimed that in the outskirts of the capital Dacca, where at least 20 factories have closed, protesters have looted shops and blocked roads.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called on workers to prevent major damage to the industry and livelihoods by accepting the new offer. A peaceful resolution is seen as crucial to sustaining the £10bn export sector, which makes up close to 80 per cent of the country’s annual income.

Leading retailer Asda has introduced a new minimum pricing structure on alcohol.

The group has further declared that it will undertake closer working relationships with the UK government to ensure that it is at the forefront of tackling alcohol misuse and abuse across Britain.

The announcement follows the recent high-profile media case of a Tesco store that sold wine for less than cost price in Scotland, leading health campaigners to claim that supermarket chains could not be trusted to be self-policing when it came to the sale of alcohol.

Asda introduced its new alcohol policy on Tuesday, whereby a floor price of duty plus VAT is set on more than 99 per cent of the alcohol sold by the group. This will result in a minimum price of £8.95 for a 20-pack of 440ml 5 per cent strength cans of beer, which would be made up of a duty of £7.62 plus the VAT of 17.5 per cent on top. Similarly, a 750ml bottle of wine would go for a minimum of £1.99 and a one-litre bottle of spirit such as vodka at £10.49.

Asda has also proposed that the government enforce the same policy throughout the entire retail industry in a letter to home secretary Theresa May from chief executive Andy Clarke. Mr Clarke claims that Asda supports a Responsibility Agreement on Alcohol development agreement to ensure that the previously successful partnership between government and industry would not be wasted, and that in conjunction with the OFT, all those involved would be responsible for establishing a safe retail environment which would openly discuss and tackle the issues of alcohol misuse across the UK.

The contentious pre-election interviews by Adam Boulton and Kay Burley have been dismissed by the UK’s media regulator.

Viewers of Sky News had objected to the treatment of the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg by Boulton, with Ofcom receiving around nearly 2,000 complaints regarding the election coverage. The issue arose during an on-screen debate with Alastair Campbell, the renowned spin doctor for the Labour Party. Burley also caused complaints over her interviewing of an electoral reformist.

Boulton, who is the Sky News political editor, received 1,787 complaints, with most centred on what was seen as  unprofessional behaviour, with many analysts suggesting Boulton had lost his temper and railed at Campbell after the now deputy prime minister had accused him of being obviously upset that David Cameron was not prime minister. A second interview, on May 10, generated 671 complaints against Boulton for similar allegations.

In dismissing the allegations, Ofcom stated that the audience for the popular news channel was presented with two well-known personalities that had contributed to a heated debate, and though it was a concern, the content and tone was not deemed out of place and Boulton’s treatment of Clegg was not said to constitute heckling.

The media regulator also threw out the 1,008 complaints arising from Burley’s interview with well-known electoral reformist David Babbs on May 8, which sparked a Twitter campaign calling for her dismissal and shouts of abuse at later live broadcasts.

High street shops have again suffered a slump in sales.

For the second consecutive month, retailers such as Marks & Spencer, H&M, Gap, Thomas Cook, Tesco and Sainsbury’s combined to record an additional downturn.

To compound matters, economists have warned Chancellor George Osborne’s tough budget will result in further cuts to consumer spending.

In the latest monthly retail survey from market analyst CBI, figures fell by five per cent in June, well short analyst’s forecasts of positive 5 per cent growth. June spending continued the trend seen in May, where a surprisingly weak rate of -18% per cent was experienced. CBI did suggest that the World Cup would offer retailers a limited respite, as will the predicted spending rush on before the VAT hike in January, but that overall the retail growth outlook remains tepid.

The survey, polled respondents from May 29 to June 10, the beginning of the World Cup, revealed that the largest spending downturn in June was in leather goods and footwear, with hardware and DIY supplies also suffering. The areas that did show increased spending were around the football tournament in South Africa, with food, drinks and television sales all up.

Despite the poor results and gloomy forecast, retailers remain optimistic that a rebound will be seen in July, and many are relying on higher consumer spending in the second half of the year before the VAT is raised from 17.5 per cent up to 20 per cent in January. The British Retail Consortium, however, has warned that the rise will cause job losses and a rise in inflation.