News digest 21 June 2011
The digest starts with the latest on the
euro crisis before its back to government policy with no U-turn on
pensions but one on prison sentences while legal aid is cut meaning
only the rich will be able to afford to go to court. Gove could be
alienating future voters and the honeymoon is over, the cheque
guarantee card is almost gone while Lloyds limits travel, there’s
an exit as Asda, Ryanair looks east and is Bob a
sleeper…
Playing with (Greek) fire –
The crisis over a new Greek bail out widens as the IMF blocks a €12
billion tranche of aid unless a new austerity plan is approved by
the Greek parliament. This adds to disagreement within the eurozone
over the best approach to the to terms of a new bail out and
concerns that the contagion will spread to peripheral eurozone
nations. At the moment the euro is maintaining its strength
vis-à-vis other currencies even with ex-UK foreign secretary – and
Eurosceptic - Jack Straw saying the euro will collapse in its
current form. As usual expect some sort of fudge to emerge over the
next few days (Mirror p4,
Sun p2, Express p1, Mail p4, Times p1, Indie p4, Guardian p14-15, Telegraph p1, FT p1).
No pensions’ U-turn – Work
and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith says that the government
will hold firm on its pension changes which will disproportionately
hit women as analysts reveal that the government’s overall deficit
reduction plan is taking £4.20 a week from men, but estimates say
women are losing £8.40 every week. Duncan Smith has said he is
‘tempted’ to look at transitional arrangements over pensions, but
that’s not the same as doing something (Mirror p1/6-7, Sun p2, Express p4, Mail p1/18, Times p14, Guardian p4, Telegraph p6, FT p2).
Sentencing U-turn confirmed –
The government will not go ahead with plans to have jail terms for
early guilty pleas (Mirror
p6, Sun p1, Express p4, Mail p1, Times p6, Indie p7, Guardian p1, Telegraph p1).
Legal aid cut – But Clarke
confirms that more than 500,000 people will no longer qualify for
legal aid as it is scrapped for divorce, debt, employment, housing,
welfare, immigration, clinical negligence and education cases, £350
million is being hacked off the £2 billion annual bill (Times p6, FT p3).
School holidays cut – And is
there nothing the Con-Dems won’t take the axe to? The Express (p4) is one of many papers
that report on plans from some of Gove’s free schools which will
see the end of the long summer holiday and children have to spend
more of the day at school, and could even have to go in at
weekends, watch a whole host of future voters shift to the
opposition (Mail p17,
Times p15, Guardian p6, Telegraph p1).
Honeymoon over – And talking
of polls the latest in the Guardian (p2) reports on the
latest polls which shows that David Cameron’s honeymoon seems to be
over as hostility to the coalition has grown, the Lib Dems are at a
14-year low, but it not all good for Labour which has a two point
lead with 39 per cent over the Tories at 37 per cent. However on
the economic competency measure the government has a 12-point lead.
Ed Miliband also gets some advice from Peter Mandelson who says the
internal sniping needs to stop and says that Labour should spend
less time talking about itself and more time talking about the
issues and the challenges the country faces (Mail p25, Times p11, Indie p19).
Care home to close – The
Mirror (p15) and Express (p2) report the scandal hit
Bristol care home exposed by Panorama for its mistreatment of
vulnerable patients is set to close this Friday while the Morning Star (p1) reports
that Charity Age UK has warned that the elderly need to get used to
neglect as the Equality and Human Rights Commission continues its
inquiry into home care in England.
Repossessions rise – And from
care homes to repossession hotspots as the Mirror (p48) and Sun (p40) reports that Corby is the
epicentre of a housing crisis with 7.56 repossessions per 1,000
homes. Experts expect the figures across the country to worsen next
year as rising household bills and possible interest rate increases
drive stretched homeowners to the brink.
Guarantee card goes – And the
Express (p23) says the end
of cheques is coming closer as the cheque guarantee card is due to
be axed at the end of the month.
Petrol price postcode lottery
– The Sun (p27) highlights
how motorists are being ripped off as petrol suppliers charge more
in different parts of the country while the Express (p10) reports that fuel
price hikes are driving cars from the road…
Lloyds travel ban – And the
Sun (p40) reports that the
boss of Lloyds has started imposing travel bans on his 100,000
staff as he aims to slash business travel costs by 20 per cent,
ominously the company has said business representatives will
receive regular reports on all travel taken, so much for trusting
your staff.
RBS windfall – Over at the
other bailed out bank the Mail (p59) and FT (p1) report that RBS workers are to
cash in with a £140 million shares’ bonus as the bailed out lender
is offloading more than 350 million shares to allow workers to
receive cash upfront, the bulk will go to investment bankers…
RBS sued – But RBS – along
with JPMorgan Chase – is being sued to the tune of $800 million by
the US credit union regulator for alleged mis-selling of mortgage
backed securities in what is expected to be the first in a series
of lawsuits (Indie p31,
Guardian p25, Telegraph b3, FT p22).
Asda exit – And as the
Sun (p41) notes that ex-RBS
boss Fred Goodwin is still available for work it says retailer Asda
has booted out its chief operating officer Simon King after just
six months in the role (Mirror p48, Mail p59, Times p35, Indie p36, Telegraph b3).
Rolls-Royce air deal – From
Asda to the air and engine maker Rolls-Royce secures a £1.4 billion
deal to supply and maintain its Trent engines with Brazilian
Airline TAM (Express p45,
Mail p59, Indie p32, Telegraph b5, FT p21).
Airbus pranged – But not such
a good air show for Airbus so far after the company had to pull one
of its flagship double decker A380s from display after its wing was
pranged (Mirror p2, Mail p59, Times p37).
Ryanair looks to China – The
Times (p37) and
Guardian (p22) report that
Ryanair has broken off talks with Boeing and has instead agreed
terms with Comac of China to help design an aircraft that could
meet the carriers demand for a 200-seater aircraft..
JCB banks on Brics – And JCB
has reported a surge in profits of 150 per cent to £235 million on
sales of £2 billion as the company gained from demand in Brazil,
Russia and China. The company now plans to invest £20 million in
upgrading its 11 UK plants (Sun p40, Express p44, Mail p57, Times p41, Telegraph b2).
easyBus rolls into profit –
First positive returns for bus service which made £882,000 before
tax thanks to a 15 per cent rise in passengers to 1.06 million
(Mail p58).
Railway sleeper – And finally
from road to rail and for those that like to consider conspiracy
theories Richard Littlejohn in the Mail (p15) tries to dress up a
hatchet job on RMT general secretary Bob Crow saying he suspects
him of being a secret MI5 agent…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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