News digest 3 August 2011
The digest opens with pressure on pay for
ordinary workers while Osborne is told to change course from all
angles, the ‘Big Society’ is crumbling, could there be hope for
Dover and if the government acts there could be for Derby but time
is running out. As the US debt deal is sealed the focus returns to
Europe and back in the City banks announce more job cuts, but
neglect to tell the workers, hackgate continues to gain headlines,
file sharing could soon be legal and is there a coded message for
Ed in his holiday reading material…
Pay frozen for 60 per cent of
workers – State sector hardest hit with 77 per cent seeing
no rise in pay in the past year, and seven per cent of workers
actually having to take a pay cut. The north east has been revealed
as the pay freeze capital of the country while Scotland is
apparently the best place to be, but all areas are struggling
posing problems for any potential demand led recovery as £11
billion has been wiped from incomes this year (Mirror p16, Sun p6, Mail p17, Times p36, Guardian p8, Telegraph b4, Morning Star p5).
Revolving door continues –
But top level bureaucrats are being taken on as front line services
are chopped as the Express
(p2) and Mail (p1) report
that Whitehall has hired 4,500 new staff. Many papers also note
that there are still 291 senior civil servants that earn more than
the prime minister.
Change course? – Just one day
after the IMF took the UK’s economic strategy to task a leading
economic think tank – the National Institute for Economic and
Social Research - says plan A is not working and urges chancellor
George Osborne to change course. The NIESR says Osborne is cutting
too fast, no argument there (Times p5, Indie p33, Guardian p21, FT p3).
Unite’s plan B – Assistant
general secretary Tony Burke outlines on
Left Foot Forward how manufacturing can and should help drive
the recovery while a few of the papers report on how industrial
firms are benefiting from export business, particularly to the far
east, despite the lack of government support (Express p51, Times p32, Indie p38, Telegraph b8).
Military cuts won’t work –
Forces can’t cope is the damning verdict from the defence select
committee which argues that defence cuts risk leaving the armed
forces unable to function by the end of this parliament (Express p22, Mail p10, Times p12, Indie p8, Guardian p4, Telegraph p1, FT p3, Morning Star p3).
Plug pulled on NHS
supercomputer – The £11 billion project to develop a
single computer system linking all parts of the NHS is likely to be
scrapped as the government has signalled a retreat even though some
£2.7 billion has been spent on the project to date (Sun p2, Indie p1/4-5, Guardian p10, Telegraph p6, FT p2).
Big Society crumbling – If
the government was hoping that the Big Society will step in to help
with the millions cut from the voluntary sector Unite officer
Rachael Maskell takes Cameron to task: “The prime
minister needs to stop banging on about his mythical ‘Big Society’
and explain how he plans to fund the crumbling society. The ‘Big
Society’ is dead.” (Morning Star p1, Unite
release)
Don’t close the AWB –
The FT (p3) reports that the
Con-Dem coalition is on track to abolish the agricultural wages
board which was first established in 1924.
Don’t sell Dover – The
FT (p2) also reports that the
revised set of criteria for the sale of trust ports is due to be
published today, opponents of the port’s privatisation argue the
government should use the opportunity to block the sell-off.
Northumbrian Water sold for £2.4
billion – Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-Shing has won the
battle to acquire the water utility in the biggest takeover of a UK
company this year (Mail
p61, Indie p37,
Guardian p21).
Paris Metro to run Manchester
trams – The French government owned company that runs the
Paris Metro is to take control of Manchester’s Metrolink after
snapping up the 10 year management contract from current supplier
Stagecoach (Times p37,
Guardian p4).
A letter to Cameron – From
trams to trains and the Mirror (p14/15) has a letter to
David Cameron calling on him to reverse the decision over
Bombardier. One of the Derby company’s five production lines closed
yesterday as a £155 million order for 120 trains for the Stansted
Express was completed, three more lines could close by the end of
September leaving just one production line left unless the
government takes action now (Sun p39, Express p4, Morning Star p3,
Unite release).
US debt deal
sealed – And after dithering and debate the US debt crisis
is over for now, although is Obama wounded? He will at least
breathe a sigh of relief as the pressure is off in terms of a
downgrade by ratings agencies, but the markets responded badly
being down sharply (Mirror
p19, Sun p6, Express p2, Mail p2, Times p25, Indie p22-23, Guardian p16, Telegraph p1, FT p4, Morning Star p7).
Italy under
pressure – As the US debt deal is sealed Italy becomes the
target of concerns about finances and debt with bond yields rising
again, is the eurozone about to face another crisis? (Times p31, Indie p34, Guardian p1/25, Telegraph p1/b1, FT p1/5)
BNP Paribas jobs secure –
From Italy to French banking giant BNP Paribas which despite taking
an exceptional charge over exposure to Greece has said that it has
no plans to cut any staff, bucking the trend in the City (Times p36, Telegraph b5, FT p16).
Barclays' off the cuff comments
condemned – Barclays’ chief executive Bob Diamond was
taken to task after he announced that he expected to make further
job cuts at the bank even though he has not notified unions of any
further reductions. Unite officer Andy Case said: “It
is not encouraging for the workforce to hear such throwaway
comments from their boss about their future job
security.” (Mirror p40, Sun p39, Express p50, Mail p58, Indie p36, Guardian p21, Telegraph b1, FT p1/15, Morning Star p4, Unite
release)
Bank complaints rise – The
ongoing claims over payment protection insurance sees bank
complaints hit 900 a day, will the banks have any staff left to
deal with them? (Mirror p4,
Mail p33, Indie p36)
Hacking investigation
continues – As the man who sprayed shaving foam over
Rupert Murdoch is jailed for six weeks another News International
executive, Stuart Kuttner, is arrested over hackgate (Mirror p11, Sun p21, Express p8, Mail p8, Times p8, Indie p1, Guardian p1, Telegraph p2).
Change to copyright law
signalled – The Indie (p14) reports iPod users
can breathe a sigh of relief as planned changes to the law will
mean that if you rip a CD to your iPod you are no longer a
criminal. The legislation will also remove parodies of songs from
breaches of copyright so expect an explosion of YouTube videos in
your inbox as videos can go viral again…
Miliband tries to curb union
influence – And finally the Guardian (p1) splashes with the
news that Ed Miliband is facing a tense battle with union leaders
over proposals to weaken the influence of unions within the Labour
party. Apparently he has said he will not back down on his plans to
make the party more democratic, so far he has abolished elections
to the shadow cabinet. Many papers note that he obviously needs to
do some more reading, especially after being pictured holding his
holiday books which included one titled ‘Leadership on the Line’
either his staff need to be more diligent or he’s trying to tell us
something (Mirror p4,
Sun p2, Express p4, Mail p29, Telegraph p6).
Edited by Mik
Sabiers
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