News digest 3 October 2011
The digest opens with demonstrations at
the Tory party conference, an apology of sorts from Cameron
and some mystery money to help local authorities keep council
tax down next year. There’s some mixed details on pay and pensions
while nurses fear the sack and the financial sector could see cuts
as a new credit crunch could be on the way. Elsewhere JCB digs up
extra profits, Siemens says its local, Heathrow may get noisier and
Calais could be the new gateway to Europe...
Tory party conference: 35,000 march
for the alternative – As Cameron and the Tories trotted
off to Manchester they were greeted by thousands of people marching
against the cuts and government’s manufacturing policy. Unite
general secretary Len McCluskey addressing the march said:
“We need to engage in resistance, including
co-ordinated industrial action. If you want to call it a general
strike so be it.” Doing the rounds of TV studios
Cameron came out with an apology saying ‘sorry for my sexism’ after
focus groups found women are being turned off by the Tories and the
government’s cuts agenda. Inside the conference hall Cameron
slapped down Eurosceptic backbenchers saying that clawing back
powers from Brussels was not a priority while home secretary
Theresa May questioned the Human Rights Act while in the Telegraph (p4) communities
secretary Eric Pickles has trade union time in his sights. Cameron
also announced that he planned to reintroduce the ‘right to buy’
council homes and would build one new house for every one sold, bet
the logistics have not been worked out on that. The big trail was
for a bribe from chancellor George Osborne who has found £805
million to help local councils freeze their council tax, but where
did the mystery money come from? (Mirror p6-7, Sun p2/8-9, Express p4-5, Mail p1/8-11, Times p6-8, Indie p2/6-9, Guardian p1/6-7, Telegraph p1/4-6, FT p1/2, Morning Star p1-3)
Tory party conference: The good, the
bad and the ugly - The Indie (p6) has a poll or party
members which finds that the most popular cabinet member is ‘quiet
man’ Iain Duncan Smith with a 83 per cent net rating, followed by
Michael Gove with 74 per cent and William Hague with 65 per cent.
The paper (Indie v2-3)
also profiles Boris Johnson ahead of his campaign for re-election,
but to the mayoralty or parliament and Downing Street? Lib Dems
Chris Huhne and Vince Cable are bottom of the poll while the worst
performing Tory is Baroness Warsi with -25 per cent, with the next
reshuffle nearing will she be looking for a new job?
Fighting fascism and the march for
jobs: History repeats itself – The Morning Star (p1) reports
on the 75th anniversary of the victory at Cable Street with over
1,000 anti-fascists taking to the streets of east London
yesterday to mark 75 years since the blackshirts were booted
out of Cable Street. The Mirror (p16-17) also reports that 75
years on from the Jarrow march a new generation are marching south
from Jarrow to London to fight for jobs. With one in every 10
workers in the north east now unemployed - and youth unemployment
twice that – they claim the dreams of young people are being
destroyed so the march from 1 October to 5 November calls for
decent jobs, training and apprenticeships and the right to free,
high quality education.
Minimum wage hits youth
workers? – The Mail (p25) and Telegraph (p1) report that
research from the Low Pay Commission may show that the minimum wage
is pricing young workers out of the jobs market as employers
consider it too expensive to recruit inexperienced staff because of
the wage bill. The report does say that the impact of the recession
played a major part so this is probably another attack on the
minimum wage which rose last Saturday.
Manufacturers target maternity
rights – The Indie (p31) reports the
Engineering Employers Federation is urging the government to block
new rights for pregnant workers to take maternity leave.
Young women paid more – The
Mail (p25) and Indie (p1) cite a report by
Ucas which shows that women in employment aged between 22 and 29
are now earning more on average per hour than men of the same age.
The gap is also closing between 30 and 39 year olds, but remains
wider in the 40-49 age bracket. Research still shows that across
all age groups women executives were still paid 25 per cent less
than men.
Poor hit by pensions rise –
The FT (p2) reports that the
government has not considered those on low incomes when designing
its pensions plans as rich people live far longer into retirement
but poorer workers will see less of their pensions as the age level
rises.
1 in 20 nurses fear the sack
– According to a survey by the Royal College of Nursing almost
75,000 nurses expect to either lose their jobs, have their hours
cut or see their roles downgraded in the next year. Five per cent
of NHS nurses in England – 20,500 staff – believe their posts will
disappear as the changes to the NHS kick in, don’t forget this
Sunday’s
Block the Bridge to block the bill event (Mirror p11, Sun p2, Guardian p4, Telegraph p2, FT p4).
Police crackdown on Wall Street
protestors – And across in America the New York police
have been accused of heavy handed tactics after more than 700
protesters were held on Brooklyn Bridge for several hours as they
demonstrated against the bankers that caused the economic downturn,
other protests are now occurring across America as traders are
taken to task (Sun p12,
Indie p25, Guardian p18, FT p9).
Financial services sector faces
cuts – The CBI projects some 8,000 jobs will be cut from
Britain’s financial services sector in the next three months as
confidence plunges and business conditions become more challenging
(Times p35, Indie p32, Guardian p23, Telegraph b2, FT p3).
New credit crunch on the way?
– The Telegraph (b1) says
the global financial system is on the edge of another credit
crunch as the cost of insuring bonds of banks hits new
highs.
Risks of euro break up rise –
The FT (p3) reports that concerns
are growing in the UK treasury over the eurozone crisis and that if
the eurozone breaks apart the UK would be hit by a triple whammy of
political turmoil, reduced trade and collapsing confidence while
the Mail (p62) reports
that the Bank of England may start a new round of quantitative
easing to try and kick-start the stuttering UK economy.
JCB digs deep for profits –
But some companies are doing well as the Mail (p62) says the earthmoving
machinery manufacturer reported a 500 per cent rise in profits to
£170.2 million on turnover of £317.5 million, a rise of 35 per
cent.
Siemens is local – The
Times (p41) reports
that leading Siemens’ executive Roland Busch has said his company
should be considered a local supplier as it supports 16,000 jobs in
the UK, think he’s missing the point as the company does not make
trains locally. He does however state that the company is
considering establishing a wind turbine manufacturing centre in
Hull.
Get rid of Ofgem – The head
of RWE npower, Volker Beckers, is interviewed in the Times (p47) where he calls for
Ofgem to be stripped of its powers, that wind power will lead to
higher bills and that nuclear has a future, especially as it is
part of the group planning to build four new nuclear reactors in
Britain.
Dual use at Heathrow – And as
the FT (p24) reports airlines
should consider their overall seat capacity as economic pressures
worsen; the Indie (p5)
says that BAA is to run a trial at Heathrow over using both runways
simultaneously between July and September.
Britain’s new
gateway – And the Times (p44) looks at problems
for Dover port and how Calais is instead becoming the focal point
for trade criss-crossing the Channel.
Denmark’s new government –
And on the continental front it’s about time the European left had
some good electoral news and the Guardian (p18) reports Denmark’s
prime minister-elect, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, has announced a deal
to form a three party coalition following her election victory two
weeks ago, the right still controls over 20 states, but it’s one
more step on the way back to power for the left…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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