News digest 19 August 2011
The digest starts with good news on
A-levels, before there are record riot sentences and staggering
losses on the stock exchange. The cost of PFI is too high and
waiting lists are going up, but the defence sector is downbeat and
a Derby MP is taken to task for not backing Bombardier. Elsewhere
bus concessions are cut, Shell is struggling, there’s a record fine
for Talk Talk, Obama threatens Assad and Ken has a go at
Boris…
Record A-levels results in scramble
for places – Yesterday was A-level results’ day so
congratulations to all who passed their exams. However as boys
close the gap on girls in passing key subjects the search for a
place through clearing gets ever harder. Almost 190,000 students
are looking for one of the less than 30,000 places remaining
(Mirror p10, Sun p13, Express p17, Mail p1/6-7, Times p1/8-9, Indie p1/4-6, Guardian p1/12-14, Telegraph p1/4-5, FT p3, Morning Star p5).
Record riot sentences – All
the papers highlight the latest coverage of the aftermath of the
riots. There are sombre scenes in Birmingham as 20,000 people mourn
the three young men that died protecting their communities while
the Guardian (p1/4-7) has
analysis that shows sentences are 25 per cent longer than average,
70 per cent of defendants have been remanded in custody and the
Mail (p10-11) reports on
the first case of a woman who could be evicted because of the
actions of her son. She has refuse to let her son use her
address for bail resulting in him being remanded in custody
(Mirror p6-9, Sun p8-9, Express p14-15, Times p14-15, Indie p8-9, Telegraph p1/12, FT p, Morning Star p10).
Double dip jitters – And
while the streets are calm the stock exchange is in turmoil.
Markets slumped yesterday on fears that the global economy is
heading for recession, again. UK shares fell by £62 billion or 4.5
per cent with banking stocks particularly hard hit. It looks like
George Osborne’s Plan A for austerity is now a Plan A for economic
Armageddon (Mirror p20,
Sun p6, Express p1, Mail p1/65, Times p18-19, Indie p33, Guardian p1/28-29, Telegraph p1/b1-2, FT p1/26-28).
Shop sales stall – Yet more
evidence of the slowing economy. Although July’s retail takings
rose by 4.3 per cent on the same month in the previous year that
was mainly the result of inflation, the rise in VAT and higher
petrol prices (Mirror p58,
Telegraph b2, FT p3).
PFI cost too high – Commons
treasury committee warns PFI remains poor value and needs
substantial reforms, what took them so long? (Sun p2, Mail p19, Times p41, Guardian p31, Telegraph b3, FT p2, Morning Star p4)
NHS waiting times rise – The
number of people forced to wait more than six months for NHS care
has risen 61 per cent in the past year (Sun p2, Times p11, Guardian p8).
MoD supply chain under fire –
Soldiers are receiving supplies late because of inefficiencies in
the MoD’s supply chain according to the public accounts committee
which has castigated the department for 25 years of promises to fix
the problems (Guardian
p11, FT p2).
Defence downbeat – The
FT (p15) says the outlook for the
aerospace and defence industry could be in for a hard time as more
government cutbacks impact future orders for contractors.
Air Berlin chief quits – The
FT (p17) says Joachim Hunold has
stepped down after 20 years. Yesterday he launched a package of
cuts to its routes and fleet to try to ensure future profitability
for the budget airline.
Trains and comfy seats - From
planes to trains and the Mirror (p19) keeps the Bombardier
story in the headlines as Derbyshire Dales MP Patrick McLoughlin is
taken to task after he tried to defend giving the preferred bidder
status to Siemens in front of a group of local business chiefs. The
Indie (p19) also notes
that despite complaining about his department’s lack of resources
transport secretary Philip Hammond spent almost £5,000 on
recovering four sofas and a chair in his ministerial office.
RMT and TSSA talks continue –
Gerry Doherty, general secretary of the TSSA, is expected to retire
early opening the way for a get together between the RMT and the
TSSA white collar rail union (Mirror p35).
Concessions cut - From rail
to roads and the Mirror
(p18) reports on the gradual move to scrap discounts on coaches and
buses for the elderly as rural bus services become an endangered
species.
Shell sends in divers – And
talking of danger Shell’s struggle to stem the leak moved into its
tenth day with environmental campaigners calling on the company to
release full details of its own findings into the cause and the
depth of the leak (Times p40, Guardian p31, Morning Star p5).
Foster’s slams SABMiller bid
- From gallons to pints, and while the Mirror (p31) and Sun (p21) both report on the fact
that the average drinker downs 5,800 pints during their lifetime
the SABMiller bid for Foster’s is slammed by Foster’s board
(Express p66, Mail p66, Times p35, Telegraph b3, FT p16).
Adnams advances – Brewer sees
six per rise in sales to £24 million with profits up nine per cent
(Sun p42, Express p66, Mail p66, Times p43).
Coke to Shanghai – If you
prefer a soft drink then the Times (p39)reports Coca-Cola
plans to pour more than $4 billion in to expanding its Chinese
operations.
HP gets Autonomy – And back
in the UK, the country’s largest software company, Autonomy, is
being bought by US based Hewlett Packard for £6 billion as the US
company looks to move into higher margin sectors of the IT market
(Mail p67, Times p37, Indie p34, Guardian p27, Telegraph b1, FT p1).
Another arrest over hackgate
- Talking of the US and hackgate continues with the thirteenth
arrest over phone hacking, this time it is the News of the World’s
ex US editor James Desborough (Sun p2, Mail p25, Times p13, Indie p2, Guardian p8, Telegraph p10, FT p3).
Not so good to Talk Talk –
The telecoms company was hit with a record £3 million fine
yesterday for billing thousands of customers for services they did
not receive (Mirror p58,
Sun p42, Express p66, Mail p67, Times p43, Indie p36, Telegraph b3, FT p14, Morning Star p5).
Talking to youth - The
Times (p6) reports
David Miliband is to head a task force set up by the Association of
Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations to tackle unemployment
among young people.
Threatening Assad – US
president Barack Obama calls for regime change in Syria, let’s hope
he is not doing the get involved in foreign affairs to mask
domestic troubles, we all know what that did for the last president
(Mirror p4, Sun p6, Times p6, Indie p1/22, Guardian p24, Telegraph p20, FT p1, Morning Star p7).
Ken kicks off – And according
to the Indie (p3)
former London mayor Ken Livingstone is maintaining his reputation
for unpredictability after saying that people face eternal
damnation if they give Boris their vote. Ken compared the
mayoral battle as one as earnest as that between Churchill and
Hitler, clue Boris is not Churchill. Unfortunately what was a jokey
aside has been taken out of context whipped up by some papers and
the full message that Boris didn’t expect to win the last election
and does not really know what he is doing gains less traction
(Mirror p23, Sun p2, Express p26, Mail p4, Times p6).
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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