News digest 31 October 2011
The digest opens with the rising call for
a Robin Hood tax ahead of the G20 later this week as Cameron is
told to take Clegg on over Europe just as the deputy prime minister
finds £1 billion to boost the economy. Young people lack support as
the Bank of England is told to come clean on the credit crunch
while the Bishop of London is accused of wanting it both ways. As
Miliband attacks predator companies, Qantas is no longer grounded,
but action continues at Air France. GSK is to build a new factory,
while the cost of decommissioning Sellafield will be borne by the
taxpayer and finally there’s some good news for readers of
Tribune…
Time for a transaction tax –
Writing on the Robin Hood tax
site general secretary Len McCluskey adds Unite’s call to that
of global leaders demanding the G20 introduces a transaction tax.
The FT (p1) reports that Germany’s
finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, wants the EU to take the lead
in introducing a financial transaction tax to curb speculative
trading and many other papers report on an urgent need for the G20
to focus on delivering growth to the global economy (Mail p57, Times p4, Guardian p22, Telegraph b4).
Cameron versus Clegg on
Europe – And many of the papers report on the continuing
fall out from last week’s EU vote with the Tory right wing
challenging Cameron to call Clegg to account over his pro-European
agenda and the deputy prime minister’s plans to block any moves to
rebalance the UK’s relationship with the EU. Clegg said Tory
eurosceptics were committing “economic
suicide” in their attempts to distance the UK from
the EU as the government looks to focus on plans to get the
sluggish economy growing once again (Mirror p1/6, Sun p2, Express p7, Mail p2, Indie p6, Telegraph p1, FT p2).
£1 billion boost to economy?
– And deputy prime minister Nick Clegg is also expected to announce
that he has found £1 billion to spend on 100 new projects which he
hopes will help to kick start growth in the UK economy. Projects
include expansion at sports car maker Lotus, two new power stations
and other construction projects, funny that they can find the money
now but couldn’t for key projects like Sheffield Forgemasters
(Mirror p6, Sun p2, Mail p2, Telegraph p1, FT p1).
Business confidence slides –
A report from Lloyds Bank has found that business confidence is
sliding back to levels not seen since the depth of the financial
crisis (Indie p50,
FT p23).
1 in 3 cut spending – Third
of people are cutting spending as confidence plummets according to
findings from the Centre for Economic and Business Research and a
poll for Resolution found that only 35 per cent of people feel
secure in their jobs(Sun p2,
Times p37, Indie p5, FT p2).
CBI calls for tax breaks to hire
youngsters – Business body calls for greater government
action to combat rising youth unemployment saying the government
should put £150 million aside to help cover the first year’s
national insurance cost for under 25s (Times p43, Telegraph p5, FT p4).
Time to break the vicious circle
around youth jobs and experience - The Times (p22) also features a
piece which calls on companies to end the use of unpaid interns in
key areas like the media or parliament.
Apply after A levels – And
many of the papers report on proposals from Ucas to make a radical
overhaul to university applications by suggesting that students
only apply after they have received their results (Mail p12, Times p11, Indie p1, Guardian p1, Telegraph p1).
Care in the community fails the most
vulnerable – A report by the Centre for Social Justice -
the think tank set up by Iain Duncan Smith who is now work and
pensions secretary - says that changes in care dating back to the
1959 Mental Health Act were flawed because they did not lead to an
expansion of community based services (Mail p8, Guardian p11, Telegraph p11).
Voluntary groups frozen out of ‘Big
Society’ - The Times (p8) also has a piece on
how many voluntary organisations that help young people into jobs
are being frozen out of the government’s new Work Programme. A
report to be released by the National Council for Voluntary
Organisations tomorrow will say many youth services face a double
hit of local authority cuts and being frozen out of new government
schemes amid fears that more measures are needed to stop a repeat
of the August riots.
Bishop backs protest and
evictions – With fears growing that any eviction could
turn violent almost all the papers report on the latest
developments at St Paul’s cathedral where the priests are in sore
need of good PR advice. Yesterday the Bishop of London, Dr Richard
Chartres, was branded a hypocrite after praising the protestors to
cheers and then hailing the “prudent”
decision to seek an injunction against the protestors (Mirror p9, Express p23, Mail p12, Times p5, Indie p3, Guardian p5, Telegraph p11, Morning Star p1).
Come clean on the credit
crunch – The 1 per cent are still sitting pretty as Andrew
Tyrie, chair of the treasury select committee, has condemned the
Bank of England for refusing to supply a full account of its
governing court’s discussions about the financial crisis (Indie p47, Guardian p21, Telegraph b2, FT p2).
More doubts over G4S deal –
Two more investors look likely to vote against the proposed merger
with ISS in Wednesday’s crucial vote (Express p44, Mail p57, Times p42, Indie p50, Guardian p21, Telegraph b1).
Penalise the ‘predators’ –
The Guardian (p6) and
FT (p2) report the Labour leader
Ed Miliband is to accuse the Con-Dem coalition of penalising
companies that make long term investment in the economy arguing the
government should stop offering assistance to companies focused on
“fast buck, something for nothing
culture” and support businesses focused on long term
growth.
Penalise the temporary
workers – The Telegraph (b3) reports that
Morrisons is looking to follow Tesco’s attempts to get around the
agency workers’ directive after the company confirmed it had ‘held
discussions’ with its recruiters over adopting the Swedish
derogation which waives the rights for temps to new benefits.
Penalise pensioners – As the
Express (p2) and Telegraph (b3) report that the
black hole in private pensions is getting deeper, Unite also
reveals that one in five people in Britain has a stake in public
sector pensions which are under threat from government’s proposed
changes. Accusing the government of failing to negotiate
meaningfully assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said:
“This government is sucking the life out of public
sector workers and the communities where they live. The coalition
government is unleashing a horrific attack on millions of people in
this country.” (Unite
release).
Penalise strikers – And most
papers report that over in Australia another aviation strike has
been quashed after a tribunal ordered an end to a dispute that
grounded the entire Qantas fleet and hit the travel plans of nearly
70,000 passengers. Unions and management must return to the
negotiating table and unless agreement is reached they will be
forced into binding arbitration (Mirror p9, Sun p6, Express p19, Mail p10, Times p13, Indie p27, Guardian p21, Telegraph p1/b1, FT p19, Morning Star p2).
Action at Air France – One in
five Air France flights was cancelled yesterday after cabin crew
took action, about 15 per cent of flights are expected to be
cancelled today as the airline lowers the number of passengers on
planes, and hence the number of crew needed (Mirror p9, Times p13).
Labour abandons R3 – The
Indie (p7) reports that
Ed Miliband has abandoned Labour’s policy on expansion at Heathrow
airport.
Gatwick argues for expansion
– The FT (p2) reports that the
management of Gatwick Airport says about 15,000 jobs are at stake
unless the UK finds ways to increase aviation capacity in the south
east.
Stagecoach shrugs off foreign
invasion - The FT (p22)
interviews the chief executive of Stagecoach, Sir Brian Souter, who
believes UK transport groups are strong enough to fend off
challenges from foreign state owned rivals.
SmartCabs – The Indie (p47) and FT (p22) report that from tomorrow you
will be able to order a London cab with two taps of your smartphone
as new app Hailo officially launches.
Glaxo to add new factory –
From down south to Scotland and Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical
factory GlaxoSmithKline is moving ahead with plans to build its
first new UK factory in 30 years, a decision on the location will
be made in March but two sites in Scotland have been pencilled in
as possibilities with Country Durham or Cumbria the other sites
(Mail p57).
Sellafield closure could cost taxpayer
£100 million – Still in Cumbria and the Indie (p5) reports that
taxpayers will be expected to stump up the cost of closing down and
decommissioning a nuclear fuel plant at Sellafield that was built
to provide Mox fuel to foreign power companies. Wonder what energy
secretary Chris Huhne thinks of the extra costs for his
department?
Too many ministers – The
Times (p5), Indie (p12) and Guardian (p11) report the public
administration committee has said that the coalition has too many
ministers and that David Cameron has refused to accompany the
planned cut in the number of MPs with a cut in his ministerial
team, who’s first for the chop?
Tribune cut cancelled – And
finally the Morning
Star (p3) reports some good news for left leaning readers as an
eleventh hour deal has been secured to keep long term Labour
supporting journal Tribune going after a deal was agreed between
staff, management and the NUJ over the weekend, trebles all
round…
Edited by Mik
Sabiers
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