News digest 4 January 2011
Remember Labour’s VAT-man ads during the
election campaign? Well today VAT goes up just as everyone is
struggling to work with a further jump in travel prices. The digest
also sees Ed start his fight back, there are questions about votes,
the cuts start to come home to roost in piles of rubbish while
there are more threats to terms and conditions, a questionable cure
for binge drinking and bonuses across the board, but as ever skewed
towards the top…
No happy new year
from the Tories – It’s a case of wrong tax at the
wrong time as VAT jumps to 20 per cent today with another broken
pledge from the Conservatives, although sadly no reverse is
expected for this regressive tax. All of the papers feature the
story with the line varying. The Mirror (p8-9) and Sun (p2) highlight the price of a
pint going up to over £3, while the Express (p4) says stores are
accused of using VAT to hike prices and the Mail (p12) says there will be
chaos at the tills as shops fail to update price tags and cites a
report from the Federation of Small Businesses that says 70 per
cent of small companies expect the rise to have a negative impact.
The Times (p1) keeps it
simple saying families will pay £600 more a year and the Telegraph (p1) says it will be
used to hide an 8 per cent rise in prices. The FT (p1) is the only paper to focus on the
government’s austerity measures paying off according to a poll of
leading economists, although they think that the VAT rise is a big
gamble (also Indie
p1/27, Guardian p1).
Ed fights back – And it’s 100
days into Miliband’s leadership of the Labour party. The Indie (p1) leads with
Miliband’s warning over a “lost generation” of jobless young
Britons and the front page of the Guardian also highlights
Miliband’s call that this is the start of the coalition’s “squeeze”
on families. The Guardian
(p8) also looks more closely on Miliband’s plans (or lack of them),
the Times (p6)
highlights the claim that the VAT rise will cost 25,000 jobs while
in the Telegraph (p16)
Mary Riddell thinks that 2011 is a do-or-die year for Miliband and
that he could be on his way to Downing Street (although not this
year)…
Vote – And there is just over
a week to go in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election, the
Tories don’t seem to be campaigning too hard worried if the
Lib-Dems drop to third place, the Unite phone bank is up and
running if you want to help (most papers, http://unite4labour.org/).
Elite electorate – The
Mirror (p4) also covers an
IPPR report that says just two per cent of voters decided the
election due to the first past the post system. The report also
forecasts that more elections are expected to end up in hung
parliaments as the decline of major parties continues, perhaps
there’s an argument for electoral reform (Mail p10, Times p14, Indie p2, Guardian p11, Telegraph p6, FT p2).
Rubbish piles up – And the
cuts to local authorities start to have an impact as reports come
in across the country over piles of rubbish as local services are
slashed. Strike action in Birmingham has hit collections, while
Bedford has had no collections for a month, Haringey council has
told people to buy products with less packaging and no black bags
have been collected in Exeter for a month, perhaps Cameron’s big
society can step in? (Mirror
p19, Sun p19, Mail p11, Telegraph p2)
That’s not the way to do it –
And the Guardian (p12-13)
has a feature on Cameron’s constituency saying while there are
plenty of volunteers, services are under strain and quotes the
Lib-Dem candidate at the last election: “many people
pay their taxes and expect someone else to do it" in
reference to services, quite.
Ring India – For an
appointment with your doctor is the latest is the latest wheeze to
try and save money in the NHS. Senior NHS official John Neilson
wants to outsource various functions to India, well I suppose with
all the call waiting it will help to reduce waiting lists as people
don’t get seen at all (Express p2, Mail p12).
Under fire - And health
secretary Andrew Lansley’s reforms are once again under fire,
although the stealthy road to privatisation has the approval of
senior Tories. As Lansley’s plans start to come into focus the fear
is that the NHS could once again become toxic for the Tories
(Guardian p29).
Sick pay cut – And Unison
warns that thousands of low paid workers face cuts to sick pay
after the government scraped a code to prevent private companies
driving down wages and conditions for jobs that have been
transferred out to the private sector (Mirror p25).
Time for bed? – Yet more
problems for the health secretary as the swine flu crisis starts to
increase with the Mirror
(p6) reporting that half of all intensive care beds are now
occupied by flu victims, and the pandemic shows no signs of easing.
Remind me who cancelled the planned advertising? Oh yes, that
Lansley again.
Accelerator pedal for green
energy – Energy secretary Chris Huhne pledges to speed up
the move towards green energy saying the UK should increase the
amount of energy it gets from renewables, oh hang on, he’s a
Lib-Dem, we know all about their pledges (Guardian p25).
Targeting Chrysler – On the
car front newly slimmed down Fiat - it demerged its tractors and
industrial businesses – has its eye on buying more shares in US
carmaker Chrysler; it currently has 20 per cent (Indie p27, FT p17).
On the up – And Porsche
shares soared on news that the path towards its merger with
Volkswagen was clear after charges of cornering the market in
Volkswagen shares were thrown out (Guardian p25, FT p32).
Ready for take off? – From
cars to planes and the Guardian (p24) reports that fines
for airports that can’t function during snow showers may be delayed
until 2012.
Your round? – If all this
gloom at the start of the year is driving you to drink then perhaps
pay attention to professor Richard Thaler, an adviser to prime
minister Cameron. He says drinkers should stop buying rounds to cut
down on binge drinking, instead he says it is best to set up a tab
and split the bill at the end, believe it when I see it (Sun p14).
Pint? – Although the Mail (p19) offers a different
take with a plan for smaller glasses, soon it may be time to ask
for a schooner (two thirds of a pint), I’ll believe it when I hear
it…
Leave it at Tesco – And if
you are strapped for cash for your round, you can now go to Tesco
and leave your valuables as the retail giant looks to expand into
pawn broking (Indie
p15).
Employment tribunal claims
triple – Number of cases risen from 80,000 in 2004/5 to
almost 240,000 last year. Business groups are demanding a fee to
take cases to tribunals, perhaps they could just be nicer to their
workers? (FT p4)
Don’t bank on it – The
FT (p19) lays out the challenges
for the new Lloyds chief António Horta-Osório before he starts work
on 17 January, his inbox includes funds in Ireland, lending to
business and bankers’ bonuses.
Give me the money – Bosses at
travel firm TUI shared a £5 million bonus even with last year’s
accounting blunder that forced the company to write down its 2009
profits by £49 million (Express p50).
Extra for defence execs –
While the Mail (8)
reports on record bonuses at the MoD, while workers across the
department received bonuses the average for junior staff was £775,
but senior officials got an average of £8,000 apiece.
Brassed off – And finally
some sad news, actor Pete Postlethwaite, who starred in Brassed Off
and In the Name of the Father, and who was also staunchly political
including marching against the war, has died aged 64 (Mirror p16, Sun p1, Express p7, Mail p2, Times p1, Indie p1, Guardian p1, Telegraph p1, FT p4)
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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