News digest 5 July 2011
The digest starts with the news of 1,400
redundancies at Bombardier, before the Dilnot report looks at care,
the NHS celebrates its birthday, but how many more will it have?
There are alarming accounts at the MoD while a slasher gets an
unjust reward, the Southampton strike looks set to spread to the
seas, but there’s good news for Princess Yachts, mortgage debt
drops as do construction jobs and there some bad news for Ed
Miliband and Brown gets blamed again…
No more manufacturing –
Britain’s train building future in doubt after Bombardier announced
it is to make 1,400 jobs cuts in Derby after the government gave
preferred bidder status for a £6 billion contract to rival Siemens.
Mark Young of Unite is quoted in the Mirror (p20) saying:
“The country that invented the railways is at risk of
losing its ability to manufacture trains unless the government
urgently rethinks its decision … it is simply unsustainable for the
government to claim to support UK manufacturing with one hand and
then with the other hand take decisions which potentially wipe out
an entire manufacturing sector.” Unite general
secretary Len McCluskey added: "The situation at
Bombardier has reached crisis point. The government must now act
swiftly and decisively to save Britain's last train
manufacturer.” Don’t forget to sign the Unite petition to keep UK rail manufacturing
on track (Sun p2,
Express p5, Mail p58, Indie p38, Guardian p20, Telegraph b1, Morning Star p4, Unite
release).
Spending cuts cast doubt on reforming
elderly care – Dilnot report published and recommends that
personal care costs capped at £35,000, but this does not cover
residential costs which the reports argues should be capped at
£10,000 a year. Over 65s could face a national insurance levy,
while under 40s should not have to pay for care (Mirror p8-9, Sun p2, Express p2, Mail p1/6-7, Times p13, Indie p1, Guardian p10, Telegraph p1/6, FT p2, Morning Star p5).
Happy birthday NHS – It is
time to save the NHS from cuts and privatisation Unite general
secretary Len McCluskey will tell a London rally later today on the
63rd birthday of the NHS: “People need to mobilise in
their communities and lobby their MPs, otherwise the NHS’s 63rd
birthday could turn into a wake for a service that has been free at
the point of delivery for working people since its formation in
1948.” Assemble at 17:30 on the Strand, London and
events around the country (Morning Star p1, Unite
release).
Bail law out – Emergency
legislation on the bail laws will be presented to parliament on
Thursday (Mirror p4,
Times p4, Indie p2, Telegraph p8).
Milly Dowler’s phone hacked –
Police investigation impacted by News of the World’s hacking of
phone of murdered Surrey schoolgirl, News International is
currently conducting its own internal inquiry, the honourable
course of action would be for senior leadership to step down, no
indications of that yet but intercepting voicemail is a criminal
offence so maybe time for the police to feel some collars (Mirror p6, Sun p2, Express p8, Mail p8, Times p1, Indie p1, Guardian p1, Telegraph p1, FT p1)
Police blamed for red tape –
The Mail (p2) and
Indie (p16) report that
home secretary Theresa May has accused police chiefs of failing to
join the so-called war on bureaucracy saying a number of police
forces had replaced national targets with local ones, that will
keep them on side. The Mirror (p31) also reports that Sir
Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers,
has attacked government cuts and reforms.
Alarming accountants at MoD –
Defence select committee said in almost a third of Ministry of
Defence stores the stock did not match inventories and overall the
MoD has lost track of £6.3 billion worth of assets, anyone seen an
aircraft carrier?(Times
p7, Indie p17, Guardian p5, Telegraph p4)
Slasher’s golden goodbye –
And in another example of one rule for them and one for us Suffolk
council chief executive Andrea Hill - who slashed services but
refused to take a pay cut - has been given a £218,592 payoff
(Mirror p31, Express p4, Mail p21, Times p6, Telegraph p5).
Southampton strike expands –
From Suffolk to Southampton and from Monday the strikes will
spread. Port health officers and fleet transport workers will join
the action as the council’s ‘Armageddon Day’ - where thousands of
staff face the sack for standing up for their pay and conditions -
approaches (Unite
release).
Princess Yachts to build new
factory – But better news down the road as the FT (p17) reports the Plymouth based luxury
yacht maker is to invest £35 million in an new superyacht
construction facility which could lead to 1,000 new jobs.
VW gets MAN – From yachts to
trucks and the FT (p21) and
Indie (p34) report
Volkswagen has secured a majority stake in truck maker MAN which
could see closer cooperation between the Munich-based truckmaker
and its rival Scania, subject to EU approval.
Calling time on Fuller bid –
Not connecting drinking and driving Fuller, Smith & Turner
given a 1 August deadline to announce a firm bid for its rival
Capital Pub Company as Takeover Panel raises concerns that Fuller
is trying to take over the brewer on the cheap (Express p43, Mail p59, Times p37, Indie p34).
Shop window – Tesco expands
its empire as it branches out into selling double glazing (Mirror p48, Sun p39, Mail p30, Times p31).
Mortgage debt drops – Home
buyers knocked nearly £6 billion off mortgage debts in the first
three months of the year (Mirror p48, Times p39, Indie p36, Guardian p22, Telegraph b3).
Third of loans refused – The
Mail (p59) reports that
banks have refused to lend to 320,000 small firms in the last 12
months.
Construction cuts at five month
high – Poor confidence in the construction sector sees
staff laid off at fastest rate for five months (Sun p39, Mail p58, Times p39, Indie p36, Guardian p, Telegraph b2, FT p, Morning Star p)
Credit agency ignored? – And
as Standard & Poors downgraded Greece’s credit rating the ECB
is expected to say that it will allow Greek debt to be used as
collateral for loans, the markets wobbled on the S&P
announcement, surely its time for an investigation into the credit
agencies… (Express p42,
Mail p58, Times p31, Indie p33, Guardian p21, Telegraph b1, FT p1)
Tory MEPs to defy Cameron –
The Indie (p13) reports
many Tory MEPs are expected to defy call to tighten the proposed
cut in carbon dioxide emissions from 20 to 30 per cent even though
Cameron said they should support the cut.
Ed must do better – The
Indie (p6) has the
results of a poll into the personal ratings of the leader of the
opposition which give him a rating of -14 after nine months in the
job. The good news is he is doing better than Michael Foot (-26)
and William Hague (-19), but is behind Iain Duncan Smith (-9),
David Cameron (-1), John Smith (+2) and Tony Blair (+23). Time for
Ed to raise his game…
It’s Gordon Brown’s fault –
Talking of games, the Sun
(p12) reports that ‘meddling’ Gordon Brown seriously damaged the
failed UK bid for the football World Cup by rushing to reveal it,
is there anything he won’t get blamed for…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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