News digest 31 August 2011
After the long bank holiday weekend it
looks like there’s some forward thinking on procurement, but is it
too late for Bombardier? Elsewhere there’s a focus on the UK
economy which is facing a triple whammy of debt and consumer
confidence is crashing while the housing market is mixed, but
homelessness is rising as is the bill for the riots, although
police numbers are falling and support staff are striking while RAF
pilots could come back to the sack. In Libya they’re still looking
for Gadaffi, its goodbye to Karzai and any chance of equal pay and
unless action is taken the NHS will fade away, but hackgate and
Huhne remain in the headlines…
Crossrail project delayed –
Bids for the major new Crossrail contract have been put on hold as
the government tries to avert another Bombardier style debacle, but
no answer as why it won’t review the Thameslink contract. The delay
has seen French train maker Alstom walk away from the Crossrail
contract - due to the ongoing delays - which could provide a boon
for British train manufacturers, provided there are any left. The
Telegraph (b5) asks a
good question in terms of how procurement contracts are put
together, namely: “If the answer’s Bombardier, what is
the question?” Now all the UK government has to do is
ask the right questions when establishing projects under its new
procurement rules (Mirror
p19, Sun p41, Express p2, Mail p59, Indie p37, Guardian p24, Telegraph b3, FT p2, Morning Star p2).
Triple debt whammy -
Household, corporate and government debt will impact Britain’s
economic recovery as figures from the Bank of International
Settlements show the UK close to the top of the debt table while
Kevin Maguire in the Mirror
(p8) says it is time for Osborne to go as the chancellor’s cuts
have led the economy to stall even as he continues to obsess with
Plan A, it may be hurting, but it does not look like it’s working
(Sun p2, Mail p2, Telegraph b1).
CBI backs banks – Business
body backs banks calling on government to cancel plans for
ringfencing and cabinet rift between Osborne (pro banks) and Cable
(pro ringfencing) kicks off again (Mirror p23, Sun p2, Express p64, Mail p1).
Bank stocks rally – The
Express (p64), Telegraph (b1) and FT (p32) all report on a bounce for
banking shares as the FTSE hits a two week high.
Refunds rocket – Banks set
aside £7.4 billion over payment protection insurance and £215
million was paid out in the first six months of 2011 (Mirror p40, Indie p33, Guardian p24, Telegraph b2, Morning Star p4).
Consumer confidence crashes –
The Mirror (p40) reports a
GfK NOP poll which shows consumer morale fell for the third month
in a row in August and now stands at minus 31, a level only seen
during the deep downturn in 2008/2009 and in the early 1990s when
the country slipped into recession.
Credit checks on cash-strapped
homeowners – The Mail (p1) leads with the news
that people are being phoned by their banks and told to prioritise
their mortgages over spending on luxuries like mobile phones and
gym membership or risk losing their homes.
Mixed housing outlook – And
while some papers report on mortgage loans hitting a 14-month high
(Express p2), the boost was
tempered by the fact that upmarket prices in London soared Mail (p57) and the Sun (p23) reports that a generation
of people will be locked out of the housing market due to soaring
prices and poor affordability and the number of people renting
could almost triple rising from over three million to more than
nine million. Housing minister Grant Shapps says the government
plans to get Britain building again as the dearth of new houses
adds to pressures. The Guardian (p1/12-13) splashes with
a new study from homelessness charity Crisis which highlights the
10 per cent jump in homeless claims by councils and expectations
that homelessness could spread to the middle classes risking a
flood of people on the streets (Mirror p6, Indie p34, Telegraph p19/b5, Morning Star p4).
Riots bill soars – Talking of
the streets and the (Mirror
p15) and Express (p4) say
the cost to Scotland Yard of policing the riots and the aftermath
is expected to top £34 million, more than the force spends on
policing major public order events in one year.
Police support staff strike –
The Morning Star
(p1) says over 1,000 police support staff took action in
Nottinghamshire to protest about their employer’s reluctance to
negotiate over jobs cuts and restructuring.
Miliband to expose police
rift – Opposition leader Ed Miliband plans to force a
Commons vote on police cuts as he attempts to flush out Tory rebels
and reveal government splits and make the Con-Dem coalition take
the blame for the drop in police and civilian support staff
(Mirror p23, Guardian p6, FT p3, Morning Star p2).
A new national service - And
former Labour home secretary David Blunkett continues his switch
from left to right and bangs the drum for a new community service
for young people in the Mail (p4/17) saying young people
that don’t sign up should be denied benefits, so its back to
national service.
RAF crew face sack – The
Express (p26) and Telegraph (p1) both splash with
the news that almost 1,000 RAF personnel will be sacked tomorrow
even as the RAF continues to fly sorties over Libya.
Looking for Gadaffi – And as
many members of Colonel Gadaffi’s family escape to Algeria the hunt
continues for the deposed leader and rebel attacks start to surge
on black Africans as the humanitarian side breaks down. Calls for
the Lockerbie bomber to be extradited calm down after he is
pictured close to death while the diplomat implicated in the murder
of PC Yvonne Fletcher ‘has been found dead’ according to reports,
the other main dispute is over control of the country’s $65 billion
wealth fund (Mirror p10-11,
Sun p4, Express p19, Mail p8-9, Indie p1/6-9, Guardian p4-5, Telegraph p4-5, FT p1, Morning Star p7).
Goodbye to Karzai – And yet
another cabinet minister is caught revealing secrets as
international development secretary Andrew Mitchell neglects to
conceal a confidential briefing on Afghanistan after leaving a
Downing Street meeting yesterday (Mirror p17, Sun p15, Express p4, Mail p10, Indie p3, Guardian p6, Telegraph p2, FT p2).
Exxon and Rosneft deal –
Still in foreign climes and the US oil giant signs a £1.9 billion
deal with Russian counterpart to develop oil and gas reserves in
the Russian Arctic. BP is the big loser in the deal as it had hoped
to form an alliance (Express p64, Mail p57, Indie p33, Guardian p22, FT p1/19).
Storm clouds over Europe –
More worries about the eurozone economies and the future of the
euro (Mail p57, Indie p34, Guardian p25, Telegraph b1, FT p4).
Foreign workers rise – Nine
out of 10 new jobs go to workers from outside Britain according to
the Office for National Statistics (Mirror p9, Sun p2, Mail p12).
Equal pay 100 years away –
Female executives hoping to be paid as much as male colleagues face
a wait of almost 100 years according to a study by the Chartered
Management Institute (Mail p58, Indie p5, Guardian p1, FT p2).
Save more for pensions – And
for those who remember Kinnock’s Glamorgan speech the Express (p1) splashes with the mix
of poor stock market growth combined with soaring inflation means
that workers will need to save double what they currently do if
they want a comfortable retirement, I warn you not to get old…
NHS will fade away – Writing
in the Guardian (p33)
Labour peer and crime author Ruth Rendell hits out at the coalition
government’s public spending cuts and her fears for the NHS, I warn
you not to fall ill…
Court cases or not? – And I
warn you not to be ordinary as continuing the one rule for them and
one for the rest of us, a few of the papers report the former News
of the World editor, Stuart Kuttner, is back in custody over the
phone hacking scandal (Indie p2, Guardian p7, Telegraph p2, FT p3) while the electoral commission
threw out a suggestion that former editor Andy Coulson was involved
in secret funding for the Tory party. Also yesterday prosecutors
confirmed that they have received the latest set of files over
claims that Chris Huhne tried to dodge a speeding penalty after
further investigations by Essex Police (Mail p18, Indie p2).
Edited by Mik Sabiers
No Times today
Subscribe to this post's comments using
RSS
Comments
