News digest 10 October 2011
The digest opens with the hounds after
Fox, Huhne gets involved in the May/Clarke cat flap while Lansley
goes missing as the NHS bill nears the Lords, Cameron wants to
charge immigrants while there are more calls fro a Plan B, but not
Leo McKistry’s. The CIPD says public sector cuts are a false
economy as unemployment looks likely to rise even further, the Bank
of England could consider more QE just as Lloyds and RBS are taken
to task over ATMs, but at least Europe’s leaders have come to an
agreement. Steel could be sinking, Urenco could be sold and a new
nuclear plant may open at Sellafield even with safety concerns,
Scotland could look to exit the union, and union bills are attacked
and while Clegg fears his party is male and stale, could Big Ben be
pointing to a new political direction…
Fox hounded – Damaged defence
secretary admits he’s done wrong but still has the backing of
Cameron, for now. Is it once more unto the breach of has he been
mortally wounded, judging by the acres of coverage he could soon be
put out of his misery if new revelations appear (Mirror p6-7, Sun p10-11, Express p4, Mail p1/6-7, Times p1/6-9, Indie p1/4-5, Guardian p1-3, Telegraph p1/4-5, FT p2, Morning Star p2).
Huhne joins cat fight – And
the energy secretary is forced to apologise after a rogue tweet
showed that he could have been the source of the story that showed
strong similarities between Theresa May’s conference speech and an
earlier address made by UKIP leader Nigel Farage (Mirror p15, Sun p2, Mail p13, Times p16, Indie p11, Guardian p8, Telegraph p1,FT p2).
Kill the NHS bill – As
thousands turned out in Westminster yesterday to block Westminster
bridge and the passage of the Health and Social care bill shadow
health secretary Andy Burnham took the fight to the Tories by
saying if the government scraps the bill he will cooperate on plans
to give GPs more commissioning powers going forward. There was no
sign of health secretary Andrew Lansley, especially as academics at
the University of London said competition has not made the NHS
better, a point reiterated by a letter from Unite’s Ron Singer in
the Guardian (p29). There
are now just 48 hours before the bill coasts into the Lords for its
second reading (Mirror p4,
Sun p2, Mail p16, Indie p2, Guardian p4, Telegraph p2, FT p2, Morning Star p1).
New death tax – The Sun (p5) and Express (p5) report that grieving
families could face a ‘death tax’ of up to £170 for burying their
loved ones under controversial government plans. The tax could cost
some £83 million a year adding to the burden on bereaved families,
the Department of Health argues it will provide independent
scrutiny of all deaths, seem to remember the Tories campaigning
against a death tax before the election, so yet another U-turn.
Charge immigrants to come –
In a major speech today Cameron is expected to announce that
migrants could be made to pay to come to the country. An upfront
bond worth thousands of pounds would be demanded before relatives
could join family to settle in the country. There are still
concerns from the business community especially as Cameron was
expected to set rules for companies to state how many foreign
workers they employ, but in another U-turn that has now been
scrapped as ministers cited the pledge to cut red tape (Mail p4, Times p16, Indie p16, Guardian p9, Telegraph p2, FT p2).
Going green to raise taxes –
The Mail (p12) reports a
leaked letter from chancellor George Osborne where he said air
passenger duty is simply a revenue raising duty – it currently
generates £2.5 million a year – rather than a ‘sin tax’ designed to
discourage excessive air travel.
Leo’s plan – Dropping the
green agenda is one of the 10 suggestions in Express (p12) columnist’s Leo
McKistry piece as he outlines his plans to save Britain’s economy,
others include bringing back national service, freezing
immigration, cutting taxes and VAT, abolishing foreign aid and
reducing the public sector; not so much a Plan B for growth, more a
Plan D for depression.
Cuts are a false economy –
The Times (p43) and
Telegraph (b3) highlight
a report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Directors which
warns that the public sector job cuts will threaten the recovery of
the economy. The CIPD has called on the government to call a
temporary halt to public sector job cuts as part of plan to
deal with rising unemployment. The CIPD says delaying cuts would
enable the reduction to be more easily absorbed without nasty
economic side effects. Osborne said he will stick to his plans.
Jobless generation – Ahead of
Wednesday’s latest unemployment figures the Mirror (p10), Indie (p17) and Guardian (p8-9) all report that
jobless figures are expected to swell as the summer’s school
leavers and graduates join the throng of young people, and
thousands of others, looking for work.
Confidence among finance chiefs
tumbles – The Times (p43), Indie (p43), Guardian (p23) and FT (p4) report finance chiefs consider a
double dip as a 43 per cent probability according to a survey by
Deloitte.
Bank of England considers even more
QE – Senior economist at the Bank of England has warned
that Britain’s central bank may need to print more money to bolster
the UK economy (Mail p4,
Times p43, Guardian p23, Telegraph b1)
City jobs drop – The total of
new City jobs created in the last quarter dropped 17 per cent on
the same period last year as the economy, eurozone crisis and
problems at UBS slowed recruitment initiatives (Indie p32).
Lloyds on line to lose £350
million – Banking group expected to take a loss of about
£350 million on its £1 billion commercial property debt which it is
trying to offload before the new year, the bank currently has some
£24 billion of bad property loans (FT p17).
Sun sets on Lloyds bid? – Sun
Capital Partners - one of the three bidders for the Lloyds banking
branches - could be pulling out of the bid over concerns of the
high costs to run the bank; looks like NBNK is now the front runner
(Express p44, Mail p61).
High street banks attacked over
account switching – The Indie (p31) reports that the
Independent Commission on Banking is under attack from consumer
group Which for failing to push for portable bank accounts and
instead opting for a redirection service.
Britain’s biggest banks attacked over
ban on rival ATMs – The Sun (p2) and Times (p37) report Lloyds and
the Royal Bank of Scotland have been taken to task by an
influential panel of MPs who argue that the banks’ policies are
penalising poorer customers by preventing users of low cost
accounts from other banks using their cash machine network for
free.
Prime minister raises pressure on
eurozone – In an interview in the FT (p1/3) prime minister David Cameron
ignores troubles in his own backyard to pontificate on the eurozone
crisis as he urged European leaders to take a ‘big bazooka’
approach to resolving the crisis.
New euro plan – And at a
meeting between French president Sarkozy and German chancellor
Merkel in Berlin over the weekend Europe’s leaders reached
agreement on shorting up the banking sector, although details will
not be released before next week’s meeting of EU leaders in
Brussels (Mirror p11,
Sun p2, Express p44, Mail p61, Times p41, Indie p30, Guardian p22-23, Telegraph b1, FT p7).
Dexia deal reached – Still
across the channel and Belgium is to pay €4 billion to domestic
retail arm after agreement was reached with France on setting up
bad bank (FT p17).
SFO delays bribery inquiry –
The Times (p44) and
Telegraph (b1) report
that a formal investigation of bribery allegations involving a
subsidiary of European defence giant EADS is being delayed while
the UK government considers the political implications on its
relationship with Saudi officials.
Advisers gain from Thameslink
deal – The Morning Star (p4) reports
on finding by Leicester South MP Jonathan Ashworth that revealed a
£7.3 million bill for government advice on the train building
contract.
Steel sinks – The FT (p17) reports softening prices spell
hard times for the steel sector as buyers delay orders and the
outlook for the global economy, especially China, worsens.
Urenco up for sale? – The
Telegraph (b2) also
reports that British taxpayers could be in for a £3 billion
windfall if the government’s one-third stake in the manufacturer of
enriched uranium for the nuclear power industry is sold, the Dutch
government and two German energy giants, RWE and Eon, own the
remainder.
Gamble on new Sellafield
plant? – The Indie (p10) and Morning Star (p5) both
say the government could be gambling with safety after it laid out
possible plans to construct a new multi-billion pound plant in
Sellafield just weeks after an identical facility had to be closed
because it was unfit for purpose.
Independenc
elite? – And the Guardian (p1/10-13) has an
interview with Alex Salmond which is followed up by both the
Mail (p26) and Indie (p6) which says that not
only will the referendum on Scottish independence offer voters a
second option of financial autonomy while remaining part of the
United Kingdom and that he expects to ensure that 16 and 17 years
olds will also be able to vote in the referendum, expected to take
place in 2014 or 2015.
Union bills attacked – And
the Sun (p2/10) attacks a
different kind of union as the government tries to push out its
anti-trade union agenda by claiming that taxpayers are spending £68
million a year to fund union officials and resolutely ignoring the
benefits brought to the workplace.
Labour boos for Blair wrong –
The Telegraph (p14) also
reports that deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has said Labour
party members were wrong to boo former leader Blair at the party
conference, wonder if she was thinking of harder criticism?
Clegg embarrassed by Lib Dem
team - The Telegraph (p14) also reports that
the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg told the Cheltenham Literature
Festival that his party is “too male and too
pale” and that he was
“ashamed” at the lack of women Lib Dem
MPs and their absence from the coalition cabinet, but instead of
doing anything about it he blamed it on the culture of
parliament...
Big BenD – And finally back
to the heart of Westminster and the Mirror (p10), Sun (p29) and Express (p27) report on news that
there is a new leaning tower of London. Parliament’s Big Ben tower
is starting to lean as its foundations are unstable, is that
symbolic of the Westminster coalition? No news on whether Big Ben
is trying to forecast the next election, but it looks like it is
tilting to the left…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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