News digest 12 April 2011
The digest starts with more analysis of
the interim report into the banking sector, before economic gloom
starts to hit the high street and growth forecasts, Dave gets his
facts wrong again, Clegg vanishes, there’s good and bad news at BAE
Systems and some trouble in the car sector as parts become
scarcer…
Getting off lightly – The
interim report into the UK banking sector is generally seen as
letting the banks off lightly, with Lloyds seen as bearing the
brunt of possible changes as it could be forced to sell 1,000
branches. Many of the papers highlight the fact that it is the
customers that will probably pay in terms of higher bank charges
and dearer mortgages. There’s very little coverage of the real
impact on the workers; thousands of whom have lost their jobs and
face further uncertainty, said Unite’s David Fleming:
“The recommendation to sell off bank branches will not
bring radical change but simply brings more insecurity for working
people in the finance sector and often harms communities where the
bank branch closure means many will not have access to local
financial services.” (Mirror p4, Sun p4/39, Express p2/44, Mail p1/66, Times p8, Indie p33, Guardian p10-11, Telegraph p1/b1, FT p1-3, Morning Star p5, Unite
release)
On the slide – And on the
high street a series of profit warnings from big retailers is
backed up by the biggest monthly fall in sales since 1995 as
consumers reined in spending last month. Retail confidence is being
hit by a mixture of high inflation and no wage increases as
consumers are squeezed on all sides (Mirror p48, Sun p4, Times p31, Indie p34, Guardian p22, Telegraph b1, FT p4).
Growth downgraded – And the
result of the government’s austerity package has seen the IMF
downgrade forecasts for the UK economy this year, with the UK
expected to grow by 1.7 pert cent, one of the slowest rates out of
the world’s advanced economies (Mail p66, Times p32, Indie p34, Guardian p22, Telegraph b1).
Action on jobs – But some
government support for jobs is on the horizon as deputy prime
minister Nick Clegg is due to outline the first tranche of the
government’s funding from Whitehall’s regional growth fund. Some
£450 million is expected to be made available benefiting jobs at GM
in Luton, Nissan in the north of England and Haribo in Wakefield.
The government expects this to create 27,000 new jobs although
Labour noted that the fund has been slashed by two thirds in
contrast to programmes pushed by the previous Labour government
(Guardian p25, Telegraph b1).
Going, going, where’s he gone
– But even though Clegg is due to make the announcement later
today, a number of the papers say that he seems to have vanished
from Lib Dem election literature and a poll in the Times (p7) puts the Lib Dems
down on 11 per cent with the Tories on 36 per cent and Labour just
ahead on 40 per cent ahead of next month’s elections which look
grim for the junior coalition partners (Mirror p10-11, Express p4, Mail p2, Guardian p6).
Advice for Ed –And in the
Mirror (p8) former advisor
to Harold Wilson and chronicler of union history, Geoffrey Goodman,
offers a spot of advice for Labour’s leader on how to get the keys
for Downing Street. The main focus is to set out five key issues
that would form the foundation of his government and signpost the
transformation of Britain to a fairer and more equal society.
Sounds good to me.
Row for Dave – And prime
minister David Cameron gets his facts wrong again when he
criticised his alma mater Oxford University for only having one
black student in its 2009/10 intake; the real figure was 41. In
total 22 per cent of students at Oxford that year came from ethnic
minorities (Mirror p10,
Sun p2, Express p4, Mail p4, Times p7, Indie p9, Guardian p9, Telegraph p1, FT p4).
It’s a Tory front – And still
with elections the No to AV campaign has been condemned as Tory
front in the Indie (p9) as even though 200
Labour MPs and peers have signed up all the key staff members and
donors are active and in cases – senior – Conservatives.
Nurses out – And a few of the
papers follow up on the Royal College of Nursing’s conference in
Liverpool where the consensus is the cuts could push nurses to the
brink of industrial action. 50 nurses are due to meet health
secretary Andrew Lansley as part of the government’s listening
exercise, but he will not address the RCN conference (Mirror p11, Mail p12, Times p16, Indie p6, Morning Star p2).
In the air? – BAA reports 2.3
per cent rise in traffic to 2.3 million passengers at Heathrow last
month but there are worries that Stansted is being hit by the
downturn as budget travellers are squeezed (Sun p39, Express p44, Mail p67, Times p31, Guardian p23, FT p5),
New targets please – The
Mail (p69) reports some
good news for BAE Systems as it clinches an £8 million deal to
refit targeting systems for the UK’s fleet of Tornados.
Terrier axed? – But the
FT (p4) reports that the defence
group has also announced that as many as 230 jobs may go at BAE’s
Vehicle Systems business. The defence group has begun talks with
workers at its Wolverhampton factory as well as at Newcastle where
the Terrier armoured excavator is built.
Out at Renault – And
Renault’s number two Patrick Pelata has resigned over the spying
probe and the company is to create an ethics committee to deal with
compliance issues. Pelata will remain as COO until the parts
shortages have been solved, and is to remain with the company’s
sister carmaker Nissan in the long term (Times p35, Guardian p25, Telegraph b4, FT p22).
Shutdown – Toyota plans to
suspend production at its US plants as it struggles with supplies
following the Japanese earthquake (Indie p38).
Profits up at GKN – But car
parts maker GKN has reported a 51 per cent increase in profits
driven by a 14 per cent rise in sales to £1.5 billion. The company
expects to take a hit from the squeeze on parts, but this should
not impact long term business (Sun p39, Express p45, Mail p67, Guardian p25, FT p20).
After TNK – On the
international front BP is looking to buy out its part share of TNK
in an attempt to salvage its tie up with Rosneft, Russia’s deputy
minister Igor Sechin has quit the Rosneft board (Mail p45, FT p17)
Chief heads for exit – And
another boardroom exit is expected for the head of betting firm 888
which is currently trying to raise £50 million in cash, chief
executive Gigi Levy will step down within six months amid rumours
that the planned takeover talks with Ladbrokes are close to
collapse (Times
p31).
Each way bet – And talking of
odds it’s now a two horse race for the Tote with a bid led by BA
chairman Martin Broughton lined up against Betfred for the £200
million state-owned bookmaker, Betfred is currently just ahead in
the betting stakes (Times p35, Telegraph b3).
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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