News digest 11 January 2011
Unite’s Len McCluskey sets the day’s
agenda in an interview on BBC’s Today programme, bankers’ bonuses
are still commanding the headlines, Clegg’s got an alarm clock,
while the type of jobs being created are questioned after Cameron’s
summit, there are new cars aplenty in Detroit, but possible truck
trouble in Luton, PetroChina snaps up Ineos and there’s trouble on
the runway, a deadline for De La Rue and by-election blues for the
Lib Dems…
Len’s outline - Workers have
a "right" to protest against spending
cuts and defend their jobs, said Unite general secretary-elect Len
McCluskey on BBC Radio 4's Today. Len added there was
"no likelihood" of a BA strike on the
Royal Wedding day (contrary to rumours reported on the front page
of today’s Mail) - and
the dates for action had yet to be set as workers were still voting
on it. The
Guardian’s coverage sums it up well: Union leader urges David
Cameron to stop 'bashing' workers. Len said the financial crisis
had been caused by "spivs, speculators and greedy
bankers.” adding “We are already back to
business as usual, with the prime minister saying we should stop
bashing bankers, but he has no problem bashing workers or
communities. I am not calling for the government to be brought
down, but we have a right to demonstrate against their decisions.
The cuts agenda is morally wrong and economically dangerous. It is
our duty to protest if we feel the government is doing something
wrong." (BBC report/radio).
Banks and bonuses – And
all the papers continue to report on the government rolling over
and just letting banks pay out billions. The Indie (p1/29) leads with RBS
asking why a bank that is 83 per cent state owned and has been
given more than £45 billion of state aid to stay afloat is about to
lavish £1 billion of bonuses on its already richly rewarded
investment banking staff. New Barclays’ boss Bob Diamond – who is
appearing before today’s commons select committee – has said the
fact that he is only taking an £8 million bonus this year is
evidence of his restraint (Express p2) while the Telegraph (p1/b1) has comments
from Digby Jones saying that bankers ‘got no praise’ for cutting
pay last year, do any of these people live in the real world? It’s
down to the Guardian (p8)
to look at how the Tories have done a complete U-turn on bonuses
with Osborne’s inexperience likely to have enabled bankers to run
rings around him (Mirror
p6-7, Mail p4, Times p1, FT p2, Morning Star p5).
Interest rate warning – And a
couple of the papers start to bang the drum regarding interest
rates saying many of the public have been lulled into a false sense
of security with 0.5 per cent rates and could be hit as they start
to rise over the year, do the Con-Dems have a plan B? (Express p8, Times p35)
Higher cost of being poor –
And even as Osborne tries to argue VAT is progressive the Mirror (p8) highlights a Save the
Children report which shows how the poor are charged more on a
regular basis. Examples include utilities where gas and electricity
companies charge higher tariffs, on top of that firms charge more
for car and home insurance. The Sun (p4) also highlights how petrol
prices are pricing the poor off the roads and the Guardian (p6) highlights that
having to pay in instalments from more expensive catalogues with
higher APRs exacerbates the problem; are you listening George?
Alarm clock Britain – Clegg
says he wants to speak up for the hard working masses that are
Britain’s backbone in an editorial piece in the Sun (p2) launching his new idea. The
Telegraph (p6) and
Guardian (p10) both
highlight that the project is being led by former chief secretary
to the treasury David Laws who resigned last year, so how in touch
is Clegg?
Pleasant fees – Clegg’s
understanding of the man in the street called into question by the
Mirror (p14) as he says
students will view their debts as a “pleasant
surprise” rather than a heavy burden, probably thinks
the cost is normal, after all he went to Westminster public school
where the current fees are – you guessed it - £9,802 a
year…
Jobs summit – With
unemployment rising, especially among the young, there’s more
coverage of yesterday’s job summit. The Mail (p67) notes the Federation
of Small Business asking why smaller firms were not invited, while
many of the papers highlight that the jobs that are being created
are not the high quality advanced manufacturing ones that drive
development but service jobs, and with many in supermarkets they
may not even be full time. In fact many papers report on the new
jobs being almost exclusive to the supermarket sector as store wars
rage. Even more worryingly the FT
(p2) reports that the service sector is starting to slow down even
before the VAT hike kicks in and there’s also coverage of the bad
bosses charter as more unions echo Unite and the TUC’s call against
giving companies the green light to hire and fire (Mirror p46, Sun p4, Express p49, Times p34, Guardian p26, Telegraph b3, Morning Star p4, Unite
release).
More MoD cuts – The Telegraph (p14) reports that more
than 3,000 vehicles may be cut with the number of tanks dropping
from 400 to just 50. The Mirror (p9) and Times (p14) also stress that
the military covenant – the deal which the armed forces get for
risking their lives - may even be scrapped.
BAE immunity challenged – The
Mail (p67) reports that
the controversial blanket immunity clause granted to BAE Systems
over a plea bargain is set to be challenged.
Cars on show - From defence
to the Detroit motor show where a number of announcements have been
made. The Indie (p32)
says Jaguar is expecting to see a surge in sales to China, while
the Times (p39) looks
at Ford’s new Focus which will be an electric vehicle, the FT (p21) says Fiat is planning to up truck
sales, while the Mail
(p36) reports that Rolls Royce is planning to introduce a new
electric version, well suppose Boris can praise it as being exempt
from the London congestion charge…
Truck trouble – But the
Guardian (p26) reports
that Luton could be under review after the GM chief executive said
the company hoped to reach a decision over what to do with the
Luton plant “within a month or two” and
highlighted that the van market is prime for ‘electrification’ but
faced considerable price pressure.
Ineos goes east - PetroChina
takes a stake in Ineos after agreeing a multiple billion pound deal
with Ineos enabling the Chinese company to gain access to the
European market and tap UK expertise. Unite’s Pat Rafferty said:
“We have been working long and hard to secure the
long-term future of this strategically important plant and highly
skilled workforce, both of which are of paramount importance to the
Scottish economy.” (Sun p39, Times p31, FT p1/3)
Snow sorry – BAA’s chief
executive Colin Matthews apologises over the December delays and
claims Heathrow did all it could in the Times (p20) while a number of
papers report on Virgin withholding fees, and it looks like BMI may
withhold too (Sun p39,
Mail p67, Guardian p28, Telegraph b5).
Too fat to fly – Angry
passengers threatened with arrest if they did not leave the plane
which was overweight; 37 passengers given the boot found out it was
not them but that the plane had too much fuel. Airline bosses have
apologised (Mirror p29,
Sun p12, Express p27, Mail p8, Telegraph p11).
Border agency bother – And
with continuing pressures at the UK Border Agency MPs say any
bonuses for senior officials should be scrapped until the agency
meets expectations (Guardian p14).
Third of post offices could
close – According to customer body Consumer Focus which
calls for safeguards and a continued subsidy (Mail p13).
De La Rue deadline – Takeover
panel says Oberthur given until 7 February to make formal bid
(Mirror p39, Mail p66, Times p39, Telegraph b2, FT p16).
Bins bashed – The ongoing
dispute of Birmingham’s refuse collectors continues with a work to
rule, the Mail (p12)
reports that the council said residents had reported crews driving
into roads without collecting rubbish, but neglected to mention
that this was probably casual staff employed to deal with the
backlog.
Can opened – From Birmingham
to Wigan and he Heinz workers reject the latest offer from the
company and strike action is taking place in Kitts Green again
today in the dispute over pay. Jennie Formby, Unite national
officer for food and drink, said: “Following the
result, Heinz management has said they want to enter into
conciliation through ACAS and Unite has agreed to this. However,
the company is fully aware that the industrial action will continue
until we reach a settlement that is acceptable to our members so I
hope that when we meet they will be prepared to add some real value
to the offer. Our members have sent the loudest possible message to
Heinz management – we deserve a better deal.”
(BBC
news,
MEN,
Food Manufacture, Unite
release)
By-election blues - And from
Wigan to nearby Oldham where the Times (p11) says the Lib Dems
have accused Labour of ‘playing dirty’ and providing misleading
information. Labour described it as desperate stuff. Even worse for
the Lib Dems the latest national poll in the Indie (p8) puts Labour on 42
per cent, eight per cent ahead of the Tories on 34 per cent, and 30
per cent higher than the Lib Dems poor 12 per cent, Clegg’s
approval rating is minus 15, what’s the bet it gets even lower…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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