News digest 2 September 2011
The digest starts with more storm clouds
for the UK economy and bad news on jobs for graduates, poor
prospects for state schools and a bad deal for the poor due to NHS
reforms. There’s backing for local manufacturing, but not your
local pub and a ludicrous tipple tax from the Lib Dems, oil deals
could be murky for Tory Alan Duncan and while Cameron grandstands
over Gadaffi the MoD cuts hit home. Labour says no to cuts and yes
to contracts but will there be a new rule to say no memoirs
allowed…
Triple economic whammy – A
bleak day for the economy could herald a double dip as the Markit
purchasing managers’ index dipped to 49 in August – under 50 means
the sector is contracting - and new industrial orders fell for the
fourth month running. Yesterday the Nationwide also said UK house
prices fell 0.6 per cent last month while the fall out from the
revised economic forecasts from the British Chambers of Commerce
was raised by BCC director general David Frost: “The
challenges faced by the UK economy are more difficult than first
thought.” Yet another call for a Plan B then, but is
the government listening… (Mirror p58, Sun p2, Mail p66, Times p45, Indie p32, Guardian p28, Telegraph b1, FT p1)
Workless households up –
Number of households in which no adult has worked jumped a further
18,000 and now stands at 370,000. The government calls for action
while some of the Express
(p1) peddles the line from the Taxpayers Alliance with a headline
saying ‘four million scrounging families’. How nice (Mirror p2, Sun p2, Mail p12, Indie p10, Telegraph p18, FT p2).
1 in 4 graduates out of work
– 28 per cent of students that finished their studies in 2007 are
still without full time work according to data from the Higher
Education Statistics Agency (Mail p7, Telegraph p16).
1 in 4 primaries has no male
teachers – And as term is about to start there is a slew
of education stories, the Mirror (p8) and Morning Star (p4)
highlight how free schools will siphon off funds from
comprehensives as the Indie (p15) gives them a
cautious welcome. The Sun
(p2), Mail (p7) and
Times (p15 ) focus on
creating teachers’ rights so that discipline is brought back into
the classroom. The Guardian (p1) and Telegraph (p4) note that one in
four primary schools has no male teacher as education secretary
Michael Gove calls for more male role models.
Equal pay dispute to supreme
court – And from men to women and the Guardian (p12) reports on the
battle for equal pay at Sheffield city council. The outcome of the
hearing - to be held in October – will have an impact on wages for
workers across local authorities and the NHS if the ruling by the
court of appeal that women were paid up to a third less than men
for comparable work is upheld.
Poor lose out from NHS
reforms – The Guardian (p1) reports the chair of
the BMA, Hamish Meldrum, has said that the NHS changes which return
to parliament next week out the wealthy first as the Telegraph (p1) also says that
health authorities are trying to put patients off having surgery to
save cash.
Listening down south only –
The Mirror (p20) uncovers
evidence that Lansley’s listening exercise on the NHS reforms is
ignoring swathes of the country as 90 per cent of the 252 meetings
have been held in the south east alone, and Lansley himself only
went to 35, and only three of those were outside the south
east.
Goodbye to CSI – And the
Times (p3) has a good
piece on the imminent closure of the Forensic Science Service which
has helped use DNA evidence to deliver justice in difficult and
dated cases, apparently there Is no home for the archive which has
been amassed over decades and been crucial in solving many cases
and also leading to innocent people being freed. Yet another
example of Con-Dem policy that has not been thought through.
Blight of builders’ charter –
And on badly thought through policy the Telegraph (p1) reports on the
reforms to planning law which it says could see 1,000 major
developments a year as a presumption rule will place an obligation
on local councils to meet development needs in their locality.
Expect lots of angry locals…
Back local manufacturing –
And the latest instalment in the Telegraph (b5) series on Backing
British manufacturing looks at small concerns dealing in
specialised business areas outside London and tries to talk up a UK
equivalent of the famed German Mittelstand.
Calling time at the
local - A third of the pubs sold by Punch Taverns have
been turned into shops and other businesses the company stated
yesterday. The company sold 398 pubs last year and is looking to
offload a further 2,000 in the next five years (Sun p42, Express p66, Indie p34, Guardian p32, FT p18).
No tipple tax – And the
Mail (p66) reports plans
by the Liberal Democrats to allow cash strapped councils to
introduce a levy on drinks were called ludicrous by an industry
which is already facing a squeeze from supermarkets and stay at
home drinkers.
Recession drives Go-Ahead –
Faring better is the bus and rail group which has gained from the
squeeze on incomes as people abandon cars due to high petrol and
insurance costs. Pre tax profits rose 11 per cent to £97.6 million
for the 12 months to July 2 although fears of rising fares hit the
company’s shares which went into reverse (Express p67, Mail p69, Times p51, Guardian p30, Telegraph b3, FT p16).
Edinburgh tram to get
go-ahead – Edinburgh’s city council is today expected to
vote to push ahead with the building of a tram link into the city
centre even with concerns over its eventual cost. Unite Scottish
regional secretary Pat Rafferty called for a public inquiry into
its true cost: “We're told the Haymarket line is not
profitable, but a line to St Andrew's Square could cost over £1
billion with initial borrowings of at least £270 million - a
catastrophe for the buses and business, saddling the city with
generations of debt.” (FT p2, Unite
release)
Rolls-Royce buys R Brooks –
UK power engineering group buys US inspection technology company R
Brooks as it looks to expand its civil nuclear operations (Express p67, Times p53).
Oil deal - From nuclear and
back to oil and Tory minister Alan Duncan was accused over a
conflict of interest after it emerged that an oil company pal who
bankrolled the Tories completed a $1 billion fuel deal with the
Libyan rebels (Mirror p1,
Mail p8, Telegraph p1).
Gadaffi defiant – But the
former Libyan leader vows to fight to the death vowing that Libya
will burn even as he remains out of sight (Mirror p15, Sun p6, Express p15, Mail p2, Times p1, Indie p4-6, Guardian p1, Telegraph p20-21, FT p6, Morning Star p7).
MoD cuts confirmed – Unless
Gadaffi’s strategy is to wait for the UK government to cut back the
military so much that he can re-emerge. As Cameron was
grandstanding in Paris with the transitional government – the
leader of whom Mustafa Abdel Jalil was part of Gadaffi’s cabinet
until February of this year - 1,850 job cuts were communicated to
troops and support staff as part of the 20,000 troops to be
scrapped by 2020, good timing Dave (Mirror p1, Express p2, Guardian p14, Telegraph p10, FT p2).
Labour against cuts – The
Mail (p10) pushes out
some government propaganda claiming that Labour is opposed to all
spending cuts as it gets hold of a leaked letter from Harriet
Harman.
Yes to contracts – The
Times (p11) reports
that all Labour candidates will have to sign contracts and meet
performance targets to reconnect the party with voters, although
nothing about writing memoirs...
No to bankers – And finally
there are more selective releases from Alistair Darling’s memoirs
where he says the then boss of RBS deserves to be a pariah and that
most senior bankers were “so arrogant and stupid they
might bring us all down” (Mirror p6, Express p2, Times p11, Indie p8, Guardian p10, Telegraph p6).
Edited by Mik
Sabiers
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