News digest 3 September 2010
The ‘horror’ story of continued jobs cuts
in the banking sector features across most papers as they report on
the latest 3,500 job cuts and the fall out in the public sector
looks likely to hit the most vulnerable. There’s more trouble for
the Tories, while the Labour leadership campaign hits the final
straight. And there are fears of food shortages, less alcohol being
drunk, but a number of companies have been bought, before an
explosion in the USand a warning for British
business about anti union activities…
RBS cuts coverage – Most
papers highlight the fact that RBS announces a further 3,500 job
cuts even though RBS made a £1.1 billion half year profit. The
state backed bank is planning to offshore some 500 jobs shifting
work to America, India and the Far East, and the total level of job
cuts over the past 18 months is now over 21,500. The Guardian (p27) highlights that the
total number of jobs lost at UK banks is now over 45,000 (Unite
press release, all papers).
Pathology privitisation –
Staff at King’s College hospital are to be balloted for strike
action over plans to privatise the hospitals’ world renowned
pathology service (Morning Star p5, Unite
press release).
Public sector cuts – The
Telegraph (b5) looks into
the future for public sector workers saying there are unlikely to
be enough private sector jobs for the 600,000 that expect to lose
their jobs, while the Times (p7) says that lower paid
council workers in the regions are expected to bear the brunt of
public sector cuts while Whitehall mandarins are safe. And London
mayoral contender Ken Livingstone attacks the bias in the budget
and how women in London are paying twice as much as men for the
government’s cuts in spending (Guardian p8).
Double dip danger – The
FT (p3) in its regular update on
the economy says the UK is looking more likely to see a double dip
which may force more quantitative easing to keep the economy
afloat. The Guardian (p28)
notes that the construction sector is weakening, while the Mirror (p14) says 100,000 planned
homes have been axed by the Con-Dem coalition. The cuts agenda
seems to be reducing consumer confidence, but then the Telegraph (p1) reports that the
BBC director general Mark Thompson went along to Number 10 to
discuss how to sell the cuts to the British public, nice.
Benefits attack – And it
looks like the government has been feeding more stories about
benefit cheats as the Sun
(p25) and Express (p7)
highlight some examples of benefit fraud in the latest in the
concerted attack on Britain’s ‘bloated’ benefits system.
Tory troubles – Back at the
heart of government there’s more hassle for Hague with the Mirror (p1) saying he might quit,
while the Express (p5) says
he is staying, some papers note that Hague’s first engagement after
the row was with Germany’s openly gay foreign minister Guido
Westerwelle. The Indie
(p1) reports that Cameron’s spin doctor Andy Coulson could go to
court over phone hacking claims as Tebbit warns Cameron he is
losing the Conservative right…
Labour leadership – On the
opposition benches a YouGov poll has provided a boost to David
Miliband as 47 per cent of voters pick him as the best alternative
prime minister to Cameron. The Telegraph (p7) says Ed Balls may
be lining up to a do a deal with David Miliband as a second
preference in exchange for the shadow chancellor’s job. The
Mirror (p12-13) also has an
interview with David, although its more about his family than
policy. Elsewhere Unite backed Ed Miliband announces he has the
endorsement of actor and presenter and grassroots members’
favourite Tony Robinson (Mirror p11).
Morrison’s goes online – High
street supermarket chain Morrison’s indicates it will move into the
online grocery delivery sector (p16 FT).
Food supply fears – However
supplies may be short as the FT
(p1) reports that Russia has extended its grain export ban to 2011,
wheat prices are soaring, now 70 per cent higher than in January,
and further concerns could be looming as Australia’s wheat crop
could also be damaged by adverse weather conditions.
Alcohol sales dip – The
FT (p4) also reports that the UK
saw the biggest fall in alcohol consumption for 60 years in 2009
amid calls for minimum pricing from the Scottish government.
Diageo dig - The Telegraph (b3) reports that
Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has a dig at Diageo over the latter’s
demand for alcohol units to be taxed equally for all goods which
would mean wine and spirits would face a freeze while the cost of a
pint would soar.
Foster’s demerger hit – The
anticipated demerger of Foster’s wine and beers businesses could be
hit after the company’s chief financial officer announced he would
be leaving the company by the end of the year. SAB Miller and Asahi
are both interested in Foster’s brewing division (Telegraph b4).
Burger King bought –
Brazilian group 3G Capital buys the burger chain for £2.6 billion
(Telegraph b1).
Carluccio’s sold – And the
chain named after former owner Italian chef Antonio Carluccio has
been sold for £90 million. The company has been bought by the Dubai
based Landmark group (Express p68).
HP gets 3Par – HP beats Dell
in the battle for cloud computing company 3Par after HP raised
offer to $33 a share or $2.06 billion (Times p49).
Weir buys BDK – UK pump maker
buys Indian based BDK Valves as it looks to increase its Asian
market presence (Mail
p83).
Potash fallout – But the
bidding war for fertiliser manufacturer Potash is getting more
difficult as the Saskatchewan regional government may block a rival
bid from Sinochem over price fixing fears. If a bid is barred then
BHP may not raise its bid and the current Potash management argue
the company is being undervalued at the current price offered
(Times p52).
Go-Ahead stalls – One of
Britain’s largest transport operators sees a drop in profits by a
quarter to £88.7 million as it also calls on the government to look
at introducing a charge for over 60s free bus passes when they
apply (Guardian p29).
Tube strike on – Talks
between RMT and TfL broke down with no conclusion so it’s no tube
for Tuesday (Morning
Star p2)
Another oil explosion – And a
few of the papers report that another oil well looks to have
exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, although as a shallow water well
any leak would be easier to cope with. The well is owned by Houston
Energy (Mirror p15).
American equality reverse–
And some good news for women aged under 30 in the US. According to
a report in the Mail
(p30) the gender pay gap has been reversed and now women earn more
than men.
No male teachers – Shifting
back to the UK the Mail
(p19) reports that 1 in 4 primary schools has no male teachers.
Human Rights Watch – Finally,
the Morning Star
(p1) follows up on the Human Rights Watch report into how British
firms have threatened union activists and restricted organising
rights in the US. Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley said:
“The total disregard of international labour standards by some of
our household name companies as soon as they venture beyond our
shores is an appalling stain on the character of UK business.
And increasingly we are finding anti-union tactics honed in the US
are being imported into our workplaces. With UK labour rights
already the weakest in the EU, stopping any attack on the rights
workers do have here by the government or businesses is a Unite
priority." British business, you’ve been warned…
Edited by Mik
Sabiers
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