News digest 19 April 2011
More misery for the markets as credit
agency Standard & Poors throws a spanner in the works, there’s
a swing to ‘no’ over AV, Lansley is accused of propaganda over the
NHS while as tuition fees hit ever higher levels the CBI decries
education standards, the local elections are drawing closer, it’s
bye bye Bendicks, but hello to the 800th Wetherspoon pub and the
new Beetle before some Orange workers get offered a not very bright
relocation allowance…
Market turmoil over ratings –
A threat from credit rating agency Standard & Poors that it
could downgrade America’s AAA credit status caused turmoil across
international markets yesterday. Combined with the results of the
Finnish election which has seen an anti-bail out party gain seats
and more fears over the debt in Greece stand by for a shaky few
days. The FTSE fell 126 points, wiping £32 billion from the stock
market, while the Dow Jones slumped by 200 points as investors
ploughed cash into precious metals driving the gold price to close
to $1,500 an ounce. The question now is whether the Obama
administration and his Republican opponents can agree on how to
deal with the debt which hit 11 per cent of GDP in 2009 (Sun p6, Express p49, Mail p66, Times p33, Indie p30, Guardian p1/22, Telegraph p1/b1, FT p1, Morning Star p6).
Swing to no – Latest poll on
AV sees a sharp swing to the No campaign, with 58 per cent of
people saying they plan to vote against the change. The yes
campaign had Ed Miliband and Vince Cable, with the latter saying
Cameron could sack him. The no campaign put up prime minister
Cameron who was joined by former home secretary John Reid; so
expect the yes vote to see a rise… (Mirror p6, Sun p2, Express p4, Mail p8, Times p1/6-7, Indie p6-7, Guardian p1/8-9, Telegraph p4, FT p2).
Lansley’s political
propaganda – The Mirror (p10) reports that the health
secretary could be taken to the advertising watchdog over a leaflet
about his reforms which comes up with skewed claims about cancer
patients and patient choice, while the Guardian (p4) says private
hospital providers are expecting a boom in business as NHS queues
lengthen and people elect to pay for care rather than be added to
lengthening waiting lists. The FT
(p4) also reports that the development of an electronic patient
record faces further problems after CSC – the biggest supplier –
missed another set of deadlines; the pilot project should have been
up and running in 2006…
Average tuition fee hits
£8,679 – Despite the government saying higher fees would
be the exception, the Guardian (p13) and Telegraph (p8) report 75 per cent
of universities have now announced their charges with an average
close to the £9,000 maximum…
Educate or stagnate – At the
same time new CBI head John Cridland says fixing Britain’s
education system should be the priority to get companies to invest
in the UK. He then goes on to say the 50p tax rate should be
scrapped. No mention of where the money for investment in education
comes from then? Joined up, I think not, perhaps when the CBI
endorses time off for education and training and support for
workplace rights to end exploitation people may start to listen
(Sun p43, Telegraph b2, FT p2).
KIDS cut – Disabled charity
KIDS – which has the prime minister as a patron - has had its
funding cut by £250,000 as a result of the settlement for local
authorities (Indie p8).
Election round up – Just how
well the coalition is doing will be seen from the forthcoming local
elections which are trailed in a few papers. The Guardian (p8-9) has an in-depth
look at the English elections, Labour runs just 30 of the 239
councils up for election, while the Lib Dems fear for the worst.
The Morning Star
(p1) reports on the STUC which is gearing up for action against the
coalition’s agenda. The Mail (p6) continues the council
bashing this time attacking Labour run Manchester for spending
money on mobile phones for staff. The Indie (p16) reports on a cash
crisis for the BNP while it’s bad news for Liverpool Lib Dems as
the FT (p2) reports the party’s
local leader has stepped down in a row over nominations. National
voting intention sees the Tory vote holding up, with Labour on 37
per cent, the Tories on 35 per cent and the Lib Dems at 15 per
cent.
RBS pay expected to be
approved - Back to the boardroom and 83 per cent state
owned RBS is expected to agree the £7.7 million pay package for
Stephen Hester at today’s annual meeting which is also expected to
debate a return of the taxpayers’ stake to the private sector and
the banking review (Mail
p66, Indie p32).
Boardroom bother – But the
FT (p18) reports that there is
more trouble at National Express with concerns raised over
corporate governance, National Express has disputed the
allegations.
Bye bye Bendicks – After
starting a consultation last month Bendicks owner Storck has
confirmed it is closing its UK factory and relocating production to
east Germany (Sun p43,
Telegraph b2).
Hello Wetherspoons – Pub
company opens its 800th pub in Malcorn claiming it is now halfway
through its expansion plan (Mirror p48, Indie p33).
Nestle buys Yinlu – Coffee
and chocolate company buys 60 per cent of one of China’s best known
regional foods’ firms based in Fujian province (FT p22).
Land prices rise – And good
news for farmers as a shortage of land has seen agricultural land
prices soar by a third as commodity prices increase, although pig
and livestock farmers are still facing a strong squeeze (Guardian p25).
Toyota starts
up – And despite having factories based in some of the
areas worst hit by the earthquake the Indie (p36) reports Toyota has
restarted production at all its Japanese factories, although at
half-capacity as components shortages affect car plants across the
globe…
New Beetle – And Volkswagen
unveils the third incarnation of the Beetle with a racier edge
potentially looking to appeal to the male market so out goes the
dashboard mounted flower holder, the car will go on sale in Europe
in the autumn (Guardian
p24, FT p21).
Halfway for Eurotunnel –
Train company says it is beating the ferries as more than half of
all cross channel journeys are now by the tunnel (Sun p43, Mail p67, Indie p37, Guardian p23).
Not so bright future – But
having to travel a little further, 40 call centre workers at
Orange’s customer service centre in Darlington were a bit shocked
when they asked about a relocation allowance after being told their
jobs were being outsourced; the transfer package was a £200 a month
wage and a rice and laundry allowance. The jobs are going to
Manila, Philippines (Mirror
p31, Sun p14, Mail p22).
Edited by Mik
Sabiers
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