News digest 14 February 2011
A constructive and packed conference for
youth services starts the day’s digest before banks come back into
view. Then more cuts are outlined, pay is being squeezed, benefits
attacked and private companies given a free hand to NHS services.
Elsewhere tanker drivers are queuing up for croissants, Bentley’s
bringing in a fuel efficient luxury car, there’s a new Boeing 747
and another ballot at BA...
Saving Youth Services – As
Cameron tries to reclaim the Big Society agenda – and shift it away
from being associated with cuts – over a thousand people attended
the Unite rally for youth services in Solihull on Saturday. The
Mirror (p6) and Morning Star (p2) both
feature a picture from the rally and national officer Doug Nicholls
- asked about whether the government will listen - said:
“It is going to have to. It cannot abandon the nation’s
future. The government will pay the price politically and
economically if it does.” Other papers look at
Cameron’s relaunch of his flagship policy with a “big society bank”
with funding of £100 million from dormant bank accounts and a
couple of new ambassadors, not sure that will make up for all the
cuts (Sun p2, Express p2, Mail p2, Times p16, Guardian p8, watch the
Choose Youth rally online).
Bank subsidies – The agenda
moves from bankers’ bonuses to subsidies as a number of papers
highlight research from the New Economic Foundation think tank
which says banks are gaining £60 billion in extra support thanks to
the ‘too big to fail’ government guarantee as well as being
conduits for quantitative easing. On top of that many papers also
note that this is the week that bank’s start to report earnings, so
bonuses will be back up the agenda, Barclays will be first to
declare tomorrow (Mirror p4,
Sun p, Express p5, Times p16, Indie p2, Guardian p21, Telegraph b1, FT p2, Morning Star p4).
Rock buy back? – And state
owned Northern Rock is looking at ways to return to private
ownership by potential buying back parts of the ‘bad bank’ that was
created to park its toxic debts (Express p44).
George on the run –
Chancellor Osborne off to Brussels avoid meeting his shadow Ed
Balls in a Commons debate on the introduction of the Office of
Budget Responsibility (Mirror p4).
Defence cuts outlined – Away
from banks and many papers focus on the Strategic Defence Review
which will outline military cuts in more detail. 100 trainee pilots
are going to be scrapped before they’ve got their wings and
equipment worth some £12 billion is expected to be scrapped
(Sun p19, Express p2, Mail p12, Times p1, Guardian p9, Telegraph p1).
Public sector cuts accelerate
– A sharp increase in redundancies is expected as the spending cuts
start to bite according to the CIPD, with cuts in local government
unlikely to be offset by a small rise in hiring in the
manufacturing sector. The Morning Star (p1) leads
with the cuts at Birmingham, conversely the Sun (p22) does try to argue the
government’s case accusing Manchester of wasting money as it starts
a week on ‘Town Hall madness’ but it’s weak and one sided as
expected… (Mirror p31,
Telegraph p4, FT p4)
Council chiefs challenged –
And quite a few papers report on council chief executives quoting
figures that show half earn more than the prime minister, although
they make no mention of the private house and chauffer driven car
Cameron also gets which is expected to make his pay package worth
more like £600,000 than his declared pay of £142,500. Nevertheless
122 of the 129 highest paid earners ignored the call for them to
take a 10 per cent pay cut, then again it did come from Eric
Pickles… (Mirror p32,
Sun p2, Express p5, Mail p4, Times p8, Telegraph p1).
Wage squeeze – And as
inflation continues to rise, the Times (p7) reports that price
rises have now overtaken wage rises for ordinary workers, so it is
time for us all to tighten our belts although I’m not sure if I
have any notches left on mine; latest inflation figures will be
released tomorrow (Mirror
p25, Mail p63, Telegraph p2).
End crisis loans – And in a
nice touch the Express (p1)
says that crisis loans should be ended arguing people are using
them for luxuries, the average loan – not gift – is £100 and has to
be paid back.
Illegal benefits – And it
looks like the government is trying to shift the agenda from its
cuts to blaming benefit claimants again as the Mail (p1) and Telegraph (p2) both focus on
illegal workers claiming benefits due to a loophole in the law. It
will be closed.
£3.7 billion booze bill – And
from benefits to health where hospital admissions caused by booze
are rocketing, a report by Alcohol Concern says the government
should hire more ‘alcohol health workers’ to help problem drinkers
and offer long term savings, something this short termist
government is bound to ignore (Sun p26, Indie p17, Guardian p7, Telegraph p11).
Private NHS – And in another
twist to the hospital reforms private companies will be able to use
NHS resources like operating theatres and scanners rather than
establish their own facilities, even if that makes NHS patients
have to wait longer, how nice (Mirror p28).
DIY litigation – And with the
axing of support for legal services the Times (p7) says that courts
could face gridlock as people have to defend themselves due to cuts
to legal aid.
Union pair victimised – And
getting legal backing from their union PCS is to ballot home office
workers after two reps were sacked for putting together a satirical
letter, a work to rule can be excepted to impact the immigration
service (Mirror p26).
French fuel – And talking of
borders tanker drivers are crossing the channel to fill up their
tanks in France as the cost of fuel combined with the government’s
fuel duty drives petrol prices ever higher (Times p35).
National Stagecoach? – On the
buses and investor Elliott Management is pushing for tie-up between
National Express (it owns 16 per cent) and its rival Stagecoach
(Guardian p22).
Diesel Bentley – Luxury
carmaker adds new fuel efficient model to its range, efficiency
could double to a whopping 30 miles per gallon (Telegraph p7).
More efficient easyJet – And
the Indie (p37)
highlights a new lacquer to be applied to easyJet planes which
could save the carrier millions by cutting jet fuel usage by up to
two per cent.
New 747 – And Boeing unveils
its latest version of the 747 which will be able to carry more
people and fly more efficiently, although so far it only has 33
orders (Times p37).
New ballot – And according to
the Guardian (p8) the
Brutish Airways dispute continues with a possible new approach,
unfortunately it’s not management finally seeing the light…
Edited by Mik
Sabiers
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