News digest 3 December 2010
The day starts with the country under the
weather in more than one way, before MPs’ expenses are once again
under the spotlight. Fred the shred gets away with everything, and
the government sends mixed messages on equality, Pepsi looks to
Russia, and a couple of pubs are snapped up while Nestle gets an
appetite for Quorn. Cleaning firm Mitie is rapped on the knuckles,
while Smiths fan Cameron is forbidden to listen…
Under the weather – As the
cold snap continues the gloom worsens with the news that Cameron’s
lobbying got England just two World Cup votes, and one was from
England. On the cold front many of the papers call on the
government to get a grip as vast swathes of the country grind to a
halt, transport secretary Philip Hammond is under pressure to keep
the rail network moving, Gatwick has reopened, but in many places
food and fuel is starting to run out as people panic buy, same old
Britain then… (Mirror p6-7,
Sun p12-13, Express p1, Mail p8, Times p14, Indie p1, Guardian p14, Telegraph p4, FT p4, Morning Star p2)
Under the spotlight – Details
of the latest round of MPs expenses are revealed. Most of the
papers focus on little things, Lib Dem MP Bob Russell may regret
claiming £82.13 for toilet paper, but in the main MPs have cleaned
up their act. Figures for spending at he general election also show
that the Tories spent £16 million on the campaign, twice as much as
Labour, the Lib Dems spent £4.8 million (Mirror p12-13, Sun p2, Express p7, Mail p19, Times p18, Indie p22, Guardian p32, Telegraph p1, FT p2, Morning Star p4).
Under fire – And the FSA is
under fire for its lack of action over the report into the near
collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland. The FSA exonerated the
bank’s board and management of any wrongdoing, incompetence then?
Many papers report Unite national officer Rob MacGregor’s anger:
“By failing to bring any formal charges against the RBS
executives the FSA has allowed some of the biggest villains of the
financial crisis to go on enjoying their millionaire lifestyles
whilst taxpayers experience cuts and staff face an insecure
future.” The other main call is for the report to be
published as the FSA claims that it has a legal obligation to keep
the report private, not very easy to learn from mistakes if you
can’t even find out what they were, or is there more behind this…
(Sun p66, Express p7, Mail p94, Times p62, Indie p20, Guardian p43, Telegraph b1, FT p18, Morning Star p4, Unite
release)
RBS boss interviewed – And in
supreme timing RBS chairman Philip Hampton is interviewed in the
Guardian (p47) which
trails him as the only candidate for the role with his reputation
intact. Two years on and he says reputation is what the banking
industry most needs to turn around, what about lending to
business?
End of free banking coming –
And Barclays chief executive Bob Varley does his bit to build the
reputation of the sector by calling the concept of free banking
‘idiosyncratic’ and out of time, how nice (Times p62, FT p2).
Cash spent – The Mirror (p64) and Telegraph (p11) both report that
spending on cards has outstripped spending with cash for the first
time…
More tax – The Express (p4) and Mail (p26) both report that
700,000 people will pay higher rate tax next year. But not due to
pay increases, it will be a reduction in the level at which the tax
kicks in.
Long term youth unemployment
quadruples – The number of 16-24 year olds unemployed for
more than 12 months has risen fourfold over the recession jumping
to 25,800; a million young people have lost their jobs over the
past two years with many seen as easy to sack (Indie p31).
Audits scrapped but discrimination
allowed – Government scraps plans for mandatory equal pay
audits, but allows firms to discriminate in favour of women or
other under-represented groups. Equalities minister Lynne
Featherstone also said more companies should promote women to board
level positions (Mail p2,
Times p28, Indie p45, Guardian p33, Telegraph p1, FT p, Morning Star p1).
New BAA board members –
Talking of which Rachel Lomax is appointed to the airport
operator’s board, she will also be joined by David Begg, chair of
the British Chambers of Commerce’s infrastructure commission
(Mail p93, FT p18).
Quantas gets ready for court
– Rolls-Royce expected to be sued for damages after the exact
details of the explosion are revealed, it was the coupling that did
it (Sun p66, Express p7, Mail p26, Times p69, Indie p46, Guardian p46, Telegraph b3, FT p19).
TNT split – And Dutch group
TNT is planning to hive off its domestic mail business and float or
put up for sale its £12 billion international mail and freight
operations; Fedex and UPS are considered as potential bidders
(Times p63).
Pepsi purchase – And talking
of takeovers PepsiCo is to buy one of Russia’s biggest drinks firms
Wimm-Bill-Dann for £3.5 billion (Mail p94, Times p64, Indie p50, FT p21).
Geronimo for Youngs – Youngs
brewery signals intention to buy the 26-strong chain of Geronimo’s
pubs (Times p65).
Marston’s full
menu – Brewer sees profits top £73.5 million as
company’s strategy of food, families and 40/50-somethings bears
fruit (Mirror p64, Express p65, Mail p95, Times p65, FT p20).
Nestle likes Quorn – And the
Swiss food giant has said it is interested in buying Quorn from
troubled Premier Foods (Guardian p45).
Mitie charge revealed - The
Telegraph (b1) reveals
that the contract cleaning firm is to refund its suppliers tens of
thousands of pounds after it had been charging its suppliers
£10,000 each for the privilege of working for the group, the
previous day cabinet officer minister Francis Maude said supplier
companies, including Mitie, should be more transparent in their
dealings with government and small business, ouch…
Stop liking us – And finally
what is it about pop stars and politicians, with Blair’s admiration
for Oasis, Gordon was taken to task over the Arctic Monkeys and now
David Cameron has been given his marching orders by Johnny Marr of
the Smiths, supposedly Dave’s fave band. Johnny Marr wants Cameron
to stop, tweeting: “I forbid you to like
it.” No mention of whether the Eighties Matchbox
B-Line Disaster have a view on a certain Ealing councillor
(Mirror p27, Times p31, Guardian p33).
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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