News digest 1 April 2011
The digest starts with cuts again, before
NHS changes are attacked, and while the bad banks have some good
news there’s fresh trouble in Ireland, the ‘king of the road’ dies,
Oddbins is on the way out while Kraft’s chief is richly rewarded,
Boris fails to secure a deal for tube talk and another ex-MP is
jailed…
Cuts come in – Sadly not an
April Fool, but today sees the start of the cuts with housing
benefit capped and public sector pay frozen while councils across
the country are closing libraries and reducing services and
support. Baroness Eaton, the head of the LGA, says charities should
stop complaining about grants cuts, while Unite’s Len McCluskey
sums it up in the Times
(p3) saying: “It might be April Fool's day but nobody
is fooled by this survey. No matter how the LGA tries to present
these figures, council services are facing deep and lasting
cuts.” (Mirror
p6, Mail p43, Guardian p12, FT p4, Morning Star p2)
NHS changes attacked – Lords
take it out on Cameron as first Lord Tebbit says the changes could
do “considerable” damage to NHS hospitals
(Mirror p11) and then Lord
Owen lays in too saying the proposals displayed
“staggering ineptitude” in the Times (p5) while the Mail (p33) notes that
prescription charges have gone up 20p in England today, while they
are free in Scotland and Wales...
£155 pension – The government
plans to set a minimum £155 state pension from 2015, it will only
be available to new retirees (Mirror p10, Express p2, Mail p8, Indie p16, Telegraph p1).
Banks back in the black – The
so-called ‘toxic’ halves of Bradford & Bingley and Northern
Rock have both returned to profit and have paid back £1.1 billion
to the treasury triggering a £500,000 bonus for the aptly named
chief exec Mr Banks (no this is not an April Fool either). The
banks still owe a joint £48 billion and the huge debt - funded by
taxpayers – is expected to take at least 10 more years to pay off,
although the Coventry building society is believed to be preparing
plans to swoop on Northern Rock if the plans to auction off the
bank later this year go ahead, it will face competition from others
interested in moving into the sector (Mirror p58, Sun p64, Express p88, Indie p32, Guardian p30, Telegraph b5, FT p17, Morning Star p5).
Two banks left – Ireland to
end up with just two banks after plans outlined to either shut or
merge six banks as another injection of cash was requested, the
total bailout is set to top €70 billion. Unite has urged all
parties involved in the bank restructuring announced by the
government to consider carefully the human cost for workers over
whose future there is now great uncertainty. Remember chancellor
George Osborne used to cite Ireland’s austerity cuts as the model
to follow (Mirror p9,
Sun p2, Express p64, Mail p2, Times p53, Indie p31, Guardian p1, Telegraph b1, FT p1, Unite
release).
Drop the windfall tax? – And
talking of Osborne it looks like he will be forced to make a U-turn
over his windfall tax on oil and gas companies after lobbying by
senior executives has forced him to come to the table (Times p67, Indie p36, Guardian p1, Telegraph b5, FT p4).
Petrol sales dip – High
prices have forced drivers to cut back with sales down 2.2 per cent
- or 100 million litres less - in the last three months (Sun p20).
‘King of the road’ dies –
Edward Stobart – who turned a fleet of lorries into a national
institution – has died of a suspected heart attack (Mirror p15, Sun p29, Mail p13, Times p4, Indie p17, Guardian p9, Telegraph p6).
Last orders for Oddbins – A
different type of fuel, taxman pulls plug on off licence with
company expected to collapse into administration on Monday, 400
jobs under threat (Mirror
p58, Sun p64, Express p19, Mail p88, Times p65, Guardian p3).
Kraft chief rewarded –
Despite the exodus of top Cadbury staff following the Kraft
takeover the FT (p20) reports that
Irene Rosenfeld has been awarded a $2.1 million bonus, perhaps for
avoiding parliamentary committees, her total pay package was $19.3
million…
Burtons’ workers go
to board – Workers at the Wirral factory take their fight
for a future to the top table. Said Unite regional officer Ritchie
James: “We will put our counter proposals to Mr Clarke
and the Burtons’ board confident in our view that this plant can go
from strength to strength and that closure must not be an
option.” (Business
Desk, Unite
release)
BT calls cut – Ofcom orders
telecomms company to reduce broadband and call prices (Sun p6, Express p27, Indie p36, Telegraph p2).
No tube talk – And Boris
fails to negotiate a deal to get mobile networks connected on the
underground falls through meaning thousands of travellers are
spared the ‘I’m on the tube’ refrain as part of their daily
commute, has Boris actually done anything other than shrink the
congestion charging zone and advertise Barclays bank on bikes?
(Sun p23, Times p9, FT p4)
Vodafone buys India’s Essar -
£3 billion deal to buy out remaining share of Indian joint venture,
Essar is the second largest mobile operator in India by revenues
(Mail p90, Indie p36, Telegraph b3, FT p15).
Libya crumbling – Also on the
international front as senior members of Gaddifi’s government start
to defect the battle rages on with no real end-game in sight, just
more deaths as attacks on Tripoli limit any rebellion in the
capital, joined up thinking from the allies as usual (Mirror p1/4-5, Sun p10-11, Express p17, Mail p1, Times p1, Indie p1, Guardian p1/4-7, Telegraph p1, FT p6, Morning Star p7).
Former MP Devine jailed –
Ex-Labour MP Jim Devine was jailed for 16 months yesterday over
claiming £8,385 in false expenses, he is the third MP to be jailed
and the judge said that Devine had lied to the court during his
trial, do they ever learn? (Mirror p21, Sun p37, Express p4, Mail p47, Times p29, Indie p9, Guardian p9, Telegraph p6).
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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