News digest 1 June 2011
The digest starts with Sainsbury’s under
the microscope, before Tesco bonuses are shaken up and cucumbers
are not the cause, although thousands of elderly people are at risk
from a collapse, and as care standards in one home have been
likened to torture, the cuts are having an impact on mental health.
There’s no checks on doctors over commissioning, one Lord is taken
down for fiddling his expenses, while Huhne is still in the
headlights. The housing boom is being inflated as bad loans may be
covered up and - even with help for first time buyers -
construction is in crisis, as is Nokia, but Apple is looking for a
cloud, consumers are looking at a very slow recovery, but is Labour
benefiting?
Sainsbury’s should act on
shifts – DHL logistics workers demonstrated outside
Sainsbury’s headquarters today in a dispute over changes to depot
shifts which will deny the DHL workers quality family time even as
the supermarket chain runs a ‘Feed your family’ campaign to
encourage families to eat together. Unite national officer Paul
Davies said: "Sainsbury's high profile ‘Feed your
family’ campaign encourages its customers to eat as a family, but
when we urged the supermarket to intervene to protect warehouse
workers at its depot from this devastating attack on their family
lives we were ignored. It is time Sainsbury's did the right thing;
it has the power to demand that DHL does." (Sun p43, Morning Star p4, Unite
release)
Tesco bonus bonanza over? –
As a report from MM&K in the Morning Star (p1) shows
that Britain’s biggest bosses received pay rises on average of 32
per cent last year, Tesco has announced it is shaking up its pay
and benefits for senior management reducing the total package for
senior staff to £38 million. New boss Phil Clarke will take a pay
cut, receiving a base salary of only £1.1 million, although his pay
could hit £7 million if the group hits targets (Mirror p40, Sun p43, Express p57, Mail p64, Times p36, Indie p35, Guardian p23, Telegraph b3, FT p17).
Source of salad bug probed –
And continuing the supermarket theme most of the papers report on
the E.-coli outbreak which has claimed 16 victims in Germany and
one in Sweden, over 1,200 people have been affected overall. The
cause – originally thought to be cucumbers – is still being
investigated (Mirror p2,
Sun p2, Express p24, Mail p27, Times p11, Indie p4, Guardian p3, Telegraph b3, FT p1, Morning Star p7).
Thousands of elderly at risk
– Care home firm Southern Cross runs out of cash to pay rent to
landlords which leaves the firm’s 31,000 residents waiting to see
whether the business will go bust (Mirror p11, Mail p64, Times p1, Indie p33, FT p1/3).
Bullied in care – Many of the
papers report on BBC’s Panorama last night which uncovered shocking
abuse of adults with learning difficulties at a Bristol care home
(Mirror p11, Mail p10, Guardian p8, Telegraph p4).
Cuts creating mental health
crisis – And the front page of the Guardian reports that according to
leading charities and experts government tests for incapacity
benefit are harming the most vulnerable people.
No check on GPs – And a
number of papers report on research from the King’s Fund which
bemoans the lack of accountability for GP consortiums which will
manage some £60 billion of the NHS budget, the controversial bill
could also be delayed to at least next February creating more
long-term negative headlines for the coalition (Times p4, Indie p20, Guardian p11, Telegraph p11, FT p2, Morning Star p2).
Liar and cheat – And the
danger of not having checks is shown as Lord Taylor is jailed for
12 months for fiddling his expenses (Mirror p14, Sun p6, Express p4, Mail p4, Times p5, Indie p6, Guardian p11, Telegraph p11, FT p4, Morning Star p2).
Huhne still in headlights –
And no speedy conclusion to the pressure on energy secretary Chris
Huhne as a probe over election expenses points the way to a second
investigation (Mirror p14,
Sun p6, Express p4, Mail p12, Times p5, Indie p22, FT p2).
Problem loans hidden – And
there are also concerns over leading banks which the Telegraph (b1) reports that the
FSA has accused banks of concealing problem loans by letting up to
300,000 borrowers switch to interest only deals, allow payment
holidays or extend loan terms rather than repossess properties.
First time buyers helped –
And the Telegraph (b1)
and FT (p17) also report that
housebuilders have turned from building homes to buying them in
order to support customers get on the property ladder. Some £835
million has been pumped into house purchases after mortgage lending
from banks has collapsed.
Construction crumbles – And
the Mirror (p40) and
Sun (p43) report that the
construction sector is worsening as the number of building firms
going bust has soared by 19 per cent over the last quarter, 948
firms collapsed in the last quarter.
Not so good for Nokia – And
the Finnish telco saw shares tumble to a 13-year low yesterday
after the firm issued a profits warning after increased pressure
from Android and iPhones hit sales (Express p57, Mail p67, Times p39, Indie p34, Guardian p23, Telegraph b3, FT p1).
Apple aims for cloud – The
FT (p17) reports US consumer
technology company pre-announces its push into cloud computing
ahead of launch next Monday, Steve Jobs to return from medical
leave to lead the launch of what is being dubbed the iCloud, expect
more analysts to coo with amazement…
Slowest recovery since 1830 –
But consumers may not as the FT
(p1) reports the latest prognosis from Osborne’s Office for Budget
Responsibility which says the UK economy is expected to see the
slowest rise in consumer spending of any post-recession period
since 1830. Strange how George Osborne seems to have gone awol
recently.
Neck and neck – But Labour is
not capitalising on the economic concerns as the latest poll in the
Indie (p15) shows
Labour and the Tories both with 37 per cent support, while the Lib
Dems have gained one point to 12 per cent.
Edited by Mik
Sabiers
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