News digest 27 September 2011
The main news in most of the papers is the
Labour party conference in Liverpool. There’s a mixed reaction to
shadow chancellor Ed Balls speech, but that would be expected from
the right-wing press, and a trail for Ed Miliband’s leader’s
address later today as well as the campaign to save the
agricultural wages board. Elsewhere the global economic crisis
continues with the ILO warning of 40 million jobless, ordinary
people are being squeezed and the high street is expected to remain
frozen. Sailors face the sack, BAE Systems has confirmed it will
cut almost 3,000 jobs and easyJet could get a new rival. There are
calls for less and more regulation while the digest closes with
action over deal busting in construction…
Labour party conference: A five-point
plan for growth – Shadow chancellor Ed Balls set out a
five-point growth package including slashing VAT to five per cent
for home improvements, a national insurance holiday for firms that
take on new workers, a repeat of the tax on bankers’ bonuses to
help guarantee a 100,000 jobs for young people and building 25,000
much needed affordable homes. Unite general secretary
Len McCluskey addressing a fringe meeting alongside the shadow
chancellor said: “Labour must offer a vision of hope
with policies that will deliver growth, jobs and fair taxation. It
needs to tell the voters straight – Labour will improve your living
standards, no more must you fear your children will be worse off
than you.” Balls made a series of admissions about
Labour mistakes in government and promised he would set up tough
fiscal rules monitored by the Office for Budget Responsibility and
also admitted he could not promise to reverse every Tory spending
cut…
Labour party conference: Leader’s
speech - Most of the papers trail Ed Miliband’s speech
today where the Labour leader is expected to shrug off some
disappointing opinion poll figures (the Sun has Labour with just a
two point lead over the Tories, while the Indie has the Tories one
point ahead at 37 per cent to 36 per cent for Labour – seems the
post Lib Dem conference bounce has gone to the Tories not the Lib
Dems). Ed Miliband is expected to focus on a war on bad tenants and
bad businesses outlining his plans to rebuild society so that the
values of the decent majority are heard and that obligations and
greater responsibility is taken by both those at the bottom and the
top. Ed Miliband’s speech is due to start between 14:15 and 15:00
(Mirror p1/4-5, Sun p2, Express p4, Mail p2/8-9, Times p1/6-7, Indie p1/4-7, Guardian p1/6-9, Telegraph p1/8-9, FT p4, Morning Star p3, Unite
release)
Labour party conference: An apple to
remember agricultural workers – The continuing campaign by
Labour and Unite to stop the abolition of the Agricultural Wages
Board will see hundreds of apples handed out to Labour party
delegates today. Unite’s executive council member Ivan Monckton
addressed the Labour conference on the threat to agricultural
workers’ livelihoods (Unite
release).
40 million unemployed – And
talking of livelihoods the fall out from the eurozone crisis
continues with projections from the International Labour
Organisation that without international co-operation to boost
employment millions of jobs will vanish. The latest moves on the
eurozone bailout are analysed across the papers with Thursday’s
vote in the German Bundestag seen as key, if Merkel loses the vote
on the bailout the contagion could worsen. There has been some
better news as stock markets have staged a slight rally, but gold
has continued to decline as investors shift into the dollar
(Sun p6, Express p64, Mail p10, Times p5, Indie p39, Guardian p20, Telegraph b1, FT p6, Morning Star p7).
Energy squeeze continues –
The Mirror (p48) reports
that more then one in four people can be expected to have to borrow
money to help pay rocketing energy bills, while a further 40 per
cent are expected to dip into savings as the squeeze on incomes
bites.
High street sales to remain
frozen – Retailers expect no pick up in sales until the
new year (FT p19).
Asda cuts petrol prices –
Store wars continues this time the Sun (p24) reports that Asda has cut
the price of a litre of petrol by 2p, must be more oil from
Libya…
Sailors face the sack –
Talking of Libya and the Telegraph (p1) leads with news
from the Royal Navy that hundreds of sailors that risked their
lives during the Libya campaign are to be sacked this week in the
first round of armed forces redundancies.
MoD cuts confirmed – BAE
Systems confirmed that it is planning to cut almost 3,000 jobs at
sites across the country, mainly in its military aircraft division.
Unite national officer Iain Waddell said: "Unite is
meeting with BAE Systems today and we will be doing everything
we can to mitigate the impact of these cuts. The government cannot
sit on its hands and allow these highly skilled jobs to
disappear.” (Sun p41, Express p29, Mail p13, Times p39, Telegraph b4, Morning Star p5, Unite
release)
Dreamliner delivered – Better
news in the commercial aviation field as after a three year delay
Boeing has delivered its first 787 superjumbo to All Nippon Airways
(Sun p41, Mail p67, Times p3, Guardian p24).
Stelios strikes back –
But worries for easyJet which could be facing a new rival called
Fastjet after the founder of the orange themed airline stated he
was planning on setting up a new rival airline. easyJet says that
Stelios has signed a deal not to set up a rival airline so the
blood red livery of the new offering may take a while to get
airborne, unless this is just another mischievous move in Stelios’
ongoing battle with easyJet (Mirror p48, Sun p4, Express p65, Mail p19, Times p3, Indie p23, Guardian p3, Telegraph b1, FT p1).
Deregulation disputed – And
the FT (p2) reports the so-called
red tape revolution which aimed to stem the flow of new regulations
has been accused of failing in its aims by business leaders who
have argued – despite government claims of £3 billion in savings –
that the burden has increased, although part of the response was a
coded attack on the agency workers’ directive due to come into
force on Saturday.
Regulation required? – The
Times (p1) leads with a
demand for tighter regulation of healthcare assistants from the
chief of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, especially after calls
for families to get involved with the care of patients. And the
Mirror (p6) reports Mike
Farrar, head of the NHS Confederation, who has argued that NHS
users are not prepared for the scale of changes likely as a result
of spending cuts and the strain this will put on basic services,
with many hospitals forced to reduce services and support and
possibly abandon agreements to meet the financial restrictions.
Dispute over deal busting
– Some 2,000 workers converged on the Lindsey oil refinery
yesterday and hundreds of construction workers walked out over
attempts by construction employers to get workers to sign new
agreements which could see pay cuts of up to 30 per cent as well as
reduced holiday entitlement and overtime. Unite regional officer
Chris Weldon said: ”Construction workers cannot afford
to lose a third of their income. They have families to support and
mortgages to pay. That is why workers are so determined to defend
what they have ... this attack is going to cause unnecessary
industrial unrest. These employers need to stop bullying their
workers and negotiate with Unite.” (FT p2, Morning Star p2, Unite
release)
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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