News digest 11 July 2011
The digest starts with Southampton council
back up the agenda, Murdoch flies in, the trouble with trains
remains and Cameron is keen to kick the public out of the public
sector. There are pressures on education and health and it looks
like the economy is slipping back into recession while the eurozone
crisis could be widening, although if you had plans for a foreign
trip you may need to count the pennies, alternatively you can
holiday at home, Durham was the destination for thousands over the
weekend…
Six week Southampton strike still
on – Today is ‘Armageddon Day’ when all of Southampton’s
staff have been told they will be sacked unless they sign up to
new, inferior contracts. Their response? Port health officers will
join the six-week long strike at the city which has seen hundreds
of workers, from refuse collectors to social workers, take
industrial action in protest against the council's "sign or be
sacked" policy. Action by the port health workers will hit leisure
and container services at the port, which earns the city £300
million from cruise and leisure ships alone and last night Unite
released a leaked report from Southampton’s management team which
shows it is drawing up plans to sack more than a quarter of its
4,300-strong workforce over the next three years. Ian Woodland,
regional officer for Unite, said: "At last we can see
what sort of administration Royston Smith is leading … now we have
the facts – the council plans to sack more than a quarter of the
workforce by 2014 and spend £15 million of taxpayers' money doing
so.” If you want to hear the voice of the workers
then the
Daily Echo says striking union members at Southampton City
Council are making their point with a protest song – listen
here on YouTube, must be a coded message there… (Morning Star p5, BBC
News,
Conservative Home, Unite
release)
All over for the News of the
World – And as the last edition of the News of the World
was published yesterday Rupert Murdoch flew in to take charge of
the hacking crisis. Looking to defend son James and chief executive
Rebekah Brooks, some of the papers say that Les Hinton – a long
time Murdoch lieutenant and now head of the Dow Jones - could be
the fall guy. Miliband is planning on using the opposition day’s
business to call for a vote to delay the decision on the BSkyB
takeover, although some of the right wing papers question the role
of his new strategy director, an ex-Times journalist. On a lighter
note cunning subs got a wealth of secret messages across in the
final crossword with some biting clues and answers commenting on
the crisis (Mirror p1/4-5,
Sun p1/10-11, Express p4-5, Mail p6-9, Times p1/8-11, Indie p1-8, Guardian p1/4-7, Telegraph p1/4-5, FT p1/3, Morning Star p4).
Changing policy? – And the
Bombardier story also continues. The Express (p4) continues its crusade
and talks of a possible legal challenge to the government’s
decision, while the Times (p19) outlines how the
government is looking to change its industrial policy, although it
seems to say it will be too late for Bombardier, while the Morning Star (p2/9) says
the train workers should look to the shipworkers of the past and
trails the mass march and rally scheduled for 23 June (Unite
release).
Kicking public out of the public
sector – Prime minister David Cameron is to outline the
latest on his plans to effectively privatise all public services
when he launches his so-called drive to hand more power to the
people but will really just hand schools, hospitals and local
services to the private sector as he looks to promote competition
‘in all services’ provided by the state. Some say he will try to
push the John Lewis model or mutual ownership, but in reality
expect it to end up more like the energy sector where managers and
shareholders earn monopoly profits and we pay through the nose in
contrast to other European countries (Mirror p1/9, Sun p2, Express p23, Mail p12, Indie p11, Guardian p26, Telegraph p1, Unite
release).
Rejecting green energy – And
talking of energy a number of the papers report that energy prices
can be expected to climb further as the not in my backyard lobby
sees half of all wind farms blown off course, while energy
secretary Chris Huhne has said his plans will not lead to higher
power bills, the again what do they say about Lib-Dem pledges
(Mail p20, Indie p15, Telegraph p8, FT p2).
On the way out? – Talking of
Lib Dems the Indie
(p20-21) has an interview with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg who
passes comment on how the pillars of the ‘British Establishment’
are falling citing the newspaper industry, parliament, the police
and the big financiers, but he neglects to include his own party in
that arguing that he made the right call to sign up with the
Conservatives and support the economy…
Young out of control – But
the government is facing an education crisis as a number of papers
report that the number of pupils excluded from schools for violent
behaviour has doubled in the past year, it looks like Cameron’s
Broken Britain is coming true (Sun p2, Express p15, Mail p1, Indie p17).
Slipping back into recession
– And many of the papers report that the latest indicators on the
economy seem to herald a shift back to either flat or no growth.
Two City forecasters predicted that GDP figures due later this
month will see a 0.2 per cent contraction for the April to June
period, it seems all the government cuts are hurting, but its not
working, time for a ‘Plan B’ could be the call once again as the
odds on a double-dip recession shorten to a one in three chance
(Mirror p9, Sun p4, Express p44, Mail p57, Times p33, Indie p31, Guardian p27, Telegraph b1/3, FT p2).
Times up – And the Guardian (p1) splashes with a
warning from leading NHS doctors that rising NHS waiting times are
likely to cost lives. The paper has analysed official data relating
to the six NHS waiting list targets in England and found that five
are increasingly being breached, so much for Cameron and all his
pledges that the NHS is safe in his hands…
Out of service – And the fire
service could be stretched to breaking point over the cuts
according to the FBU as more than 1,000 firefighters jobs have been
axed and fresh cuts are in the pipeline (Indie p16, Guardian p8, Telegraph p2).
Nice earner – And the
Mirror (p14) reports that
while justice minister Crispin Blunt is slashing legal aid for the
poor it looks like the lucrative business at the top end for QCs
that defend people in murder and terrorism trials will continue,
strangely enough the justice minister’s brother is a QC, and David
Cameron’s brother, Alex, is a top legal aid barrister, one law for
the rich it seems…
No good for inmates – The
Mail (p2) reports yet
more un-joined up thinking as reforms proposed by justice secretary
Ken Clarke will see the criminals most in need of support excluded
from getting educational classes and work training if they
reoffend.
OK for the army – Some good
news for Fife as the Times (p7) reports that the MoD
is reviewing its closure plans for air base, RAF Lossiemouth is
expected to remain open and RAF Leuchars should be converted to an
army base.
Tough for BAA – The FT (p19) reports the final decision on
whether BAA will have to sell Stansted and one if its Scottish hubs
is expected early next week, the decision is likely to be
upheld.
Seeking to assure
shareholders – But Lloyds boss Antonio Horta Osario is on
his way to Wall Street to reassure investors about his plans for
the bank, he has also indicated that today is the last day for bids
for the branches the bank is being forced to sell off (Guardian p23, Morning Star p5).
Taking control – And the
Telegraph (b2) reports
that city financier Guy Hands is looking to get his hands on RBS
Aviation capital, the Dublin based aircraft and leasing
business.
Action on Italy – And talking
of capital European leaders are meeting in Brussels as Italy gets
dragged into the storm over the debt crisis following strong falls
on the Italian stock exchange at the end of last week (Express p11, Mail p2, Times p3, Guardian p22, Telegraph p1/b1, FT p1).
Fancy a foreign trip? – But
the Mail (p21) reports
that even with all the woes in the eurozone the weakness of
sterling has priced many people out of a foreign holiday.
Fighting for working people –
But you can always holiday at home. The Morning Star (p1) reports
over 100,000 trade unionists headed to Durham over the weekend to
hear trade union leaders, including Unite’s Len McCluskey, mobilise
millions of workers against the cuts, in his speech (Unite
release) Len summed up the aim of all progressives:
“It is time the ordinary people of Britain took control
of their own destiny and their own future. A future of equality,
justice and peace.”
Edited by Mik Sabiers
Subscribe to this post's comments using
RSS
Comments
