News digest 6 September 2011
The digest opens with the latest action to
save the NHS, before the Bombardier story starts its journey to the
Commons. It may get harder to buy a ticket unless its from a
machine and Boris is coy about tube price rises, but away from the
train more are taking to the skies even as the economy is hitting
the skids. Agency workers’ rights look like they could be diluted,
News International waves goodbye to Wapping while the CBI calls for
growth, Scots Tories want a new name while Lib Dem MPs may soon be
looking for new jobs…
NHS not for sale – There’s
coverage in most of the papers trailing the start of the two day
debate on the health service which comes back to parliament this
afternoon. The Mirror (p14)
spotlights a private healthcare firm company – Netcare - that is
interested in bidding to run NHS transplants. Health department
officials have had three meetings with the firm even though a
subsidiary of the firm was fined £700,000 after pleading guilty to
illegally transplanting human organs in South Africa. The Sun (p2) and Times (p5) both report on the
pressure piling up on the Lib Dems with Clegg told to get his party
to vote through the bill. The Indie (p1) and Telegraph (p1) report that a
radical reorganisation of hospitals is needed with the result that
there will more hospital closures while the Guardian (p1) expects the bill to
see a series of amendments when it goes to the Lords. The Morning Star (p1) reports
on Unite activists who staged a protest outside parliament
yesterday warning about the danger of privatisation.
“If the Health and Social Care bill goes through, it
will be a disaster for patients. It does nothing to address the big
issues we are facing in health. It is just a massive untested
re-organisation. It’s as clear to the public, as it is to health
professionals, that David Cameron cannot be trusted with the
NHS.” said Unite national officer Rachael Maskell
(Unite
release).
Train jobs hit buffers – And
another bad decision from the prime minister as he still refuses to
reconsider the Thameslink deal despite the fact that a
Unite/Survation survey which shows that nearly half of the UK
companies supplying train maker Bombardier plan to axe jobs is
carried in many of the papers. Unite general secretary Len
McCluskey said: "This is a devastating indictment of
the government's decision on Thameslink. Countless small and medium
sized companies will pay the price for this
decision.” The government is still refusing to change
its mind, but a delegation from Derby is coming to London tomorrow
to lobby the transport select committee on rolling stock and
procurement (Mirror p9,
Sun p39, Guardian p30, Telegraph b4, Unite
release).
Ticket offices to close – And
unions have unearthed a hidden hitlist in the McNulty report drawn
up on how to achieve savings in the rail industry which could lead
to more than 1,000 job losses and the closure of one in four ticket
offices. So not only do your fares go up, but you won’t get a smile
when you buy your ticket - just a beep from a machine (Mirror p6, Sun p2, Guardian p5, Telegraph p12, Morning Star p4).
Tube rise surprise – And the
Morning Star (p4)
reports London mayor Boris Johnson has delayed publishing details
of the fare rises for the tube due next year, is he scared that
further rises will hit his poll chances?
More take to the skies – From
trains to planes and the Mail (p68) reports Ryanair and
IAG both posted rises in passenger numbers in August. The Irish
budget airline was up six per cent while IAG saw a more modest 2.2
per cent rise.
Sky high fees – Two months
after the Office of Fair Trading slammed airlines for charging rip
off fees for customers who pay by credit or debit card as many
airlines are still imposing levies and often at the end of the
booking process (Mirror
p48).
easyRow – The row between
easyJet and its largest shareholder Stelios kicked off again
yesterday as the airline’s founder called for the removal of
another director (Express
p45, Mail p68, Times p41, Indie p36, Guardian p30, Telegraph b4, FT p20).
Air France-KLM cuts back –
The FT (p21) reports economic
gloom in Europe sees a fresh round of cost cuts, a hiring freeze
and lower increases in seating capacity as the airline tries to
close the productivity gap with Lufthansa, its better-performing
German rival.
Stocks and shop sales slump –
And worries about the eurozone economy led to more market jitters.
Britain’s top firms suffered a £49 billion stock market crash
yesterday as grim figures showed the biggest monthly fall in output
for a decade raising fears that the double dip is getting ever
closer. The banking sector was particularly badly hit with RBS down
12.3 per cent and Lloyds down 7.5 per cent (Mirror p48, Sun p2, Express p44, Mail p2/65, Times p1/33, Indie p31, Guardian p1, Telegraph p1/b1, FT p1/5).
Australian eyes Lloyds –
Australian owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks is considering
making a formal offer for the Lloyds branches up for sale as a
possible precursor to offloading its UK operations as a whole.
There are also reports that NBNK is in preliminary talks with
National Australia Bank ahead of a possible joint bid (Mail p66, Times p33, Indie p36, Telegraph b1, FT p23).
Honda recall – Still with
foreign firms and the Japanese carmaker is to recall almost one
million cars worldwide to repair problems with power windows and
computer equipment; none of the models sold in Britain are affected
(Times p41).
Unilever warned over pensions
– Anglo-Dutch group faces threat of industrial action over plans to
replace final salary scheme with a hybrid offering poorer benefits
(FT p20). `
Agency workers rights to be
diluted? – The Express (p4) and Telegraph (p1) report that prime
minister David Cameron is looking to water down the new Agency
Workers directive which is due to come into force next month.
Rather than allow equal rights between temporary and agency and
full time workers the government is looking at ways of getting out
of meeting its obligations and has even hired a QC to provide
confidential legal advice to try and get its way.
Keep bombing Libya – Also
looking for legal advice is the Libyan dissident who it is claimed
that MI6 was involved in delivering a Libyan dissident to the
Gadaffi regime where he was reportedly tortured, Cameron will set
up an inquiry into the torture of detainees, but also signalled
that the bombing in Libya will continue until Gadaffi is found,
although the UN mandate runs out at the end of September (Mirror p19, Sun p6, Express p15, Mail p1, Times p1, Indie p1, Guardian p1/18, Telegraph p1, FT p1, Morning Star p7).
Hackgate still in the
headlines – The Guardian (p14-15) interviews Steve
Coogan over his legal action against News International.
Fortress farewell – And News
International has announced that is selling its Wapping fortress,
scene of its attack on the print unions (Sun p39, Indie p2, Guardian p15, Telegraph b4, FT p1, Morning Star p3)
Exit for private equity – 3i
Group expected to be ejected from the FTSE 100 after poor share
performance placing extra pressure on chief executive Michael Queen
(FT p18).
CBI calls for growth – The
FT (p3) says John Cridland, CBI
director general, says George Osborne needs to ‘step up a gear’ and
produce a game changing growth plan if he is to have a chance off
reviving the economy in 2012. Sounds like a call for Plan B to
me…
Scrap the top tax? – And as
the Guardian (p17) and
Morning Star (p4)
follow up on the reports of the some Scottish Tories wanted to
abolish themselves and emerge with a new name (there are lots of
helpful suggestions online apparently) the Indie (p10) has another warning
for Osborne over the 50p rate as 57 per cent of people polled said
scrapping the 50p tax rate would show that we are not ‘all in it
together’, not sure they needed a poll for that. The state of the
parties is not so good for Labour who see a dip of two points to 38
per cent, the Tories are on 37 per cent (also down), while the Lib
Dems now have the support of just 11 per cent, more worrying for
Clegg and his chums is that only 47 per cent of people who voted
Lib Dem last year would support the party now, and that’s before
they vote on the NHS bill…
Edited by Mik
Sabiers
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