News digest 2 August 2011
The digest starts with the latest
development in the Bombardier campaign before the spectre of mass
jobs losses comes back to haunt the banking sector. As charities
are being cut to the bone the manufacturing sector weakens and the
IMF issue a warning on UK growth. There’s a deal on debt in the US,
but the eurozone may come back into view and there’s also some top
tips for Cameron for his next holiday which will be sooner than you
think. Politicians in general are performing badly and Miliband may
be advised not to listen too closely to his kitchen
cabinet…
Train robbers – The Mirror (p1/5) splashes with the
latest development in the Bombardier campaign. The paper reveals
that consultants working on the Bombardier train contract were paid
£15 million for their services. Unions and local MPs are now
calling for an enquiry, Labour MP Chris Williamson said:
“It’s a complete waste of money and a kick in the teeth
for the workers.” 1,500 jobs have gone and more
remain at risk (Express
p4).
Job robbers – And despite
recording profits of some £7 billion - an increase of 45 per cent –
fears of a fresh wave of job cuts in the banking sector have been
stoked by HSBC saying it plans to cut 10 per cent of its workforce
by the end of 2013. In total 30,000 jobs could be at risk. Unions
urged HSBC to tell its workers how they will be affected, Unite’s
David Fleming said: “Employees were in no way
responsible for the banking crisis – but they are having to pay for
the bank’s recovery.” (Mirror p48, Sun p15, Express p2, Mail p8/59, Times p32/33, Indie p33, Guardian p24, Telegraph b1/3, FT p1/13/15, Morning Star p5, Unite
release)
Charity cutters – The
Indie (p1) and Guardian (p1) both report that
more than 2,200 charities and voluntary groups have had their
funding cut or withdrawn by local councils struggling to deal with
front loaded cuts from central government. The Guardian (p12) has a detailed map
which shows the cuts are countrywide and the Times (p4) and Telegraph (p6) put a value of
some £100 million worth of cuts to date, while the FT (p2) highlights Brendan Barber’s
comment that Cameron’s so-called ‘Big Society’ is in a reality a
‘big con’.
Manufacturing weakens –
Markit survey shows output in the manufacturing sector shrank for
the first time in two years last month. The IMF has said the UK
government may need to consider more quantitative easing as the
danger of a double-dip due to weak domestic demand starts to come
into focus. Telegraph
(p1) says static property prices and rising inflation could harm
any recovery and says households can be expected to be left £1,500
a year worse off owing to the combination of higher taxes and
reduced benefits (Mirror
p48, Indie p34,
Guardian p22, Telegraph b1, FT p3, Unite
release,
Left Foot Forward blog).
Laird drops – And after
rejecting a takeover from Cooper Industries of the US, UK based
Laird saw it shares drop from 188p to below 150p (Sun p39, Express p44, Indie p38, FT p14/15).
Shell sells Stanlow – The
(Mail p59) reports that
Esser has now closed the £213 million deal for the Stanlow refinery
near Ellesmere Port.
Honda dips – But remains in
profit despite the impact of the Tsunami earlier in the year. The
company has managed to recover from its supply chain issues and
also gained from an advance in its motorbike business (Indie p38, Guardian p24, Telegraph b2).
On your bike – Classic
motorbike maker Norton became the first company to gain from the
government’s scheme to boost lending to small business after it was
offered a £625,000 sum that will help it expand its factory and
double its workforce (Mail p59, Indie p36).
Off the buses - Not so good
news for rural bus services as the Mail (p4) reports that hundreds
of rural bus services could be cut as three quarters of councils
have reduced the subsidy they give bus companies to run
‘uneconomic’ services in rural areas or at weekends. Pensioners are
expected to be hardest hit.
Kraft’s pensions’ promise –
The Times (p31) reports
Kraft has agreed a nine-year plan to top up the Cadbury pension
scheme which has a £326 million deficit, it has already made the
first £30 million downpayment.
Pensions deficit cut – While
the Express (p1) splashes
on the return of the link to earnings for pensions. As usual the
Mail (p6) rains on the
parade saying 14 million will retire with less than their parents
had, but a couple of the other papers report that pension
liabilities for the leading companies have dropped as the stock
market has improved; pension liabilities for the FTSE 100 are now
at £19 billion, down from £51 billion the previous year (FT p14, Morning Star p3).
US debt deal - Talking of
deficits and the US finally inched towards agreement on extending
the US overdraft, although in the main Obama is seen to have lost
out in the negotiations and the issue may come back to haunt him
next year, which don’t forget is election year (Mirror p4, Sun p4, Express p2, Mail p2, Times p6-7, Indie p4-5, Guardian p1/6-7, Telegraph p12, FT p1/6-7, Morning Star p6).
US rating could still
slip – Back to the bankers and HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver
says he still thinks the US economy may be downgraded and that the
eurozone still faces pressures (Express p44).
More top tips – And talking
of the eurozone, Cameron’s miserliness in Tuscany where he refused
to leave a tip for a waitress is taken to task by a couple of
former waitresses who explain what really goes on behind the scenes
and why you should always tip, and tip in cash (Guardian p26, Telegraph p18).
More holidays for Cameron –
And the Telegraph (p2)
also reports that Cameron’s aides have also revealed that after he
returns from his Tuscan adventure he will have saved enough pennies
to have a second holiday later in August, so much for the we’re all
in this together…
Poor show for politicians –
And according to a poll in the Sun (p2) politicians of all
persuasions ought to be careful as only one MP has recorded a net
positive rating. Bottom of the class was Nick Clegg with a -35
rating, Ed Miliband was -19, while Ed Balls was -14. Harriet Harman
and David Cameron shared joint third with -9 while the most popular
politician was William Hague with +11, yes really.
Devine released – Ex Labour
MP Jim Devine walked out from prison yesterday after serving four
months of his 16 month sentence, he will remain tagged under the
home curfew scheme (Mirror
p21, Sun p25, Express p15, Mail p22, Times p12, Indie p10, Guardian p4, Telegraph p8, FT p2, Morning Star p5).
Email deleted – And could
jail be on the cards as News International has been revealed to
have deleted more than 200,000 emails. A company was hired on nine
occasions to dispose of internal emails between April 2011 and July
2011 (Indie p1,
Guardian p4, Telegraph p2).
Strike solid – And still on
the media front yesterday’s strike by BBC journalists over
compulsory redundancies received blanket coverage, as popular
programmes were taken off air, imagine local pubs did a roaring
trade (Mirror p11,
Sun p4, Express p10, Indie p11, Guardian p2, Morning Star p1).
Punch split goes to plan –
The Times (p37) and
FT (p16) report that after staring
their separate lives in rocky trading on Monday Punch and Spirit
delivered a net gain on former umbrella company Punch Taverns,
drinks all round…
Labour divisions denied – And
back to politics and the Times (p5) reports on the
appointment of the new Labour general secretary which was much
tighter than expected. Miliband’s preferred choice Chris Lennie
lost out 14-17 to Iain McNicol from the GMB. Interestingly a couple
of papers lay the blame at Ed Miliband’s private office. and a
number of the other papers report that Miliband has appointed ITV
and EMI chief executive Charles Allen to oversee a management and
commercial review of the party, don’t forget to keep the party
onside… (Indie p3,
Guardian p4, FT p2)
Edited by Mik
Sabiers
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