The Daily Bail

BP accused of 'lack of integrity' by US House speaker

The US attorney general said America would "not pay a dime" for cleaning up.

BP would be held responsible for all damages, Eric Holder said.

In another development, the Obama administration said BP had agreed to quickly meet the compensation claims of businesses and individuals whose livelihoods had been disrupted by the spill.

"It is clear that there was a lack of integrity on the part of BP when it came to what it told us about the adequacy of their technology, the sufficiency of blow-out prevention and the capacity to clean up," Speaker Pelosi said.

"I can make this pledge to the American people - that the American people will not pay a dime for the clean-up of the Gulf region and that BP will be held responsible for all the damages that have occurred," Mr Holder told reporters in Washington.

"We will take the necessary steps to make sure that that occurs."

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Oil spill: BP plans to suspend shareholder dividend

"In practice, Monday's discussion at newly instituted weekly meetings of the board will be about when to suspend the payments, how long to suspend the payments, and what to do with the billions of dollars that would be saved and not paid to shareholders," Robert Peston said.